Monday, January 31, 2011

Iran sets up ‘cyber-police’ force to clamp down on the Web

Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, Iran’s top police chief, said on state television Sunday that the Web has become an access point for spying, The Associated Press reported. Iran already has a cyber-crimes task force, set up in 2009. But the new cyber police “can prevent espionage and sabotage in Information Technology tools,” Gen. Seyed Kamal Hadianfar, head of the police information production and exchange department, told FARS News. Many Iran observers believe the force is a reaction to the important part the Internet played during the unrest following the disputed 2009 presidential election. The news also comes after a Stuxnet computer virus infiltrated the country’s nuclear program. Tehran’s Public and Revolutionary Court even announced that the formation was a reaction to aid the U.S. gave to protesters and “anti-Islamic republic groups” with anti-filtering software. Gen. Moghaddam announced that Tehran will be an initial focal point for the Web patrols and that by 2012, Web cops will be in every police station.

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