Science and Technology

CHRI – Twelve of the 20 environmental conservationists arrested in Iran’s Kurdistan Province in January and February 2019 remain in detention centers run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Ministry of Intelligence in the city of Sanandaj, the provincial capital, without access to legal counsel. A local conservationist identified the detainees as Farhad Mohammadi, Hadi Kamangar, Issa …

PayvandNews – The University of Tehran’s science and technology park will host a conference on the role of technology in natural disasters relief on May 1, ISNA reported. Visit conference’s website The establishment of relief startup network, the role of science and technology parks and universities in natural disaster will be discussed during the conference and some new emerging technologies will …

RFL/RE – About a year ago, Iran blocked the highly popular messaging app Telegram, an encrypted tool that half the country’s 81 million people used for sharing news and information, debating in private, and conducting business.Authorities had reportedly boasted that “the blocking of the Telegram app should prevent users from accessing it via VPN” — the virtual private networks that …

PayvandNews – More than 350 volunteer groups of people are providing services to the provinces haunted by flood across the country, deputy director for social affairs organization affiliated to the Ministry of Interior has said. Many NGOs and volunteer organizations made great efforts to help flood victims in Mazandaran, Golestan and Lorestan provinces, IRNA quoted Kamal Akbari as saying on …

Radiofarda – One year after popular messaging service Telegram was banned in Iran in the aftermath of early 2018 mass protests, social media users have been returning to the popular platform. The government suspected that Telegram, and social media in general, were used to mobilize crowds and organize protests in late 2017 and early 2018 in over 100 Iranian cities. …

radiofarda – A “battery explosion” in Iran’s submarine building center in Persian Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas killed several people on April 6. Ann official from the governor’s office in Bandar Abbas said that three people working for Iran’s armed forces naval industries were killed in the incident. Apparently, there are no other injuries. “Three Defense Ministry staff were …

VOA – Britain’s Sky News says U.S.-based cybersecurity experts have found that a group linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has carried out two cyberattacks on British institutions in recent years. A Wednesday report by the British news agency said the California-based cyber experts, whom it did not identify, determined that a suspected IRGC-linked group was behind a previously undisclosed attack …

afcea – Russia may have popularized the manipulation of social media to further its own agenda, but it was not the first country to do so, nor will it be the last. A number of other countries are engaging in similar tactics, but so far have flown largely under the radar. The Oxford Internet Institute found that at least 28 …

Radiofarda – Microsoft says it has seized 99 websites used by Iranian hackers to launch cyberattacks. The company said Wednesday it took control of the websites after suing the hacking group and obtaining a U.S. judge’s approval. Microsoft says it’s been tracking the group since 2013. The company says the group has tried to steal sensitive information from activists, journalists …

Radiofarda – Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it has removed more accounts from Iran, Russia, Macedonia and Kosovo, citing what it described as “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” A total of 2,632 pages, groups, and accounts were removed from Facebook and Instagram for operations linked to the above mentioned countries, the social media platform said. 513 of those accounts were tied to …