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1979 Revolution tells the true story of Iran protests
Indie developer Ink Stories recently launched a Kickstarter project for its iOS adventure game 1979 Revolution. The game takes place during the riots and protests in Iran in that year of history, which Creator Navid Khonsari lived through personally before his family moved to North America in 1980. Khonsari first told Joystiq about his vision for 1979: The Game in February 2011, though it's not clear whether Ink Stories has overhauled the previous open world-style game or if 1979 Revolution is a new adventure entirely. 1979 Revolution is an episodic, 3D adventure game that has players avoiding authorities and making consequential decisions during the tense historical period. As Khonsari describes in the crowdfunding pitch video, the game features triage and photography mini-games, the latter granting players access to real-life photographs of the Iranian revolution. The Kickstarter project is seeking $395,000 by December 16 to launch the first episode, titled Black Friday, in spring 2014. With enough support, Ink Stories hopes to bring the game to Android, PC, Mac, Linux and other consoles.
US officials accuse Iran hackers of breaking into Navy's computers
Oh, how times have changed. Almost a year ago, Iranian officials claimed the country was suffering from constant internet-based attacks. Now, according to the WSJ, it's Iran -- or hackers working for the Iranian government -- that's allegedly behind a series of digital intrusions on the US Navy's unclassified computers. The report, which cites unnamed US officials, says the attacks these past few weeks targeted computers that the Navy's been using for email and intranet. Since no sensitive information was stolen, the US is reportedly more worried about the digital attacks' implications: Iran is gaining hacking proficiency, and fast. Supposedly, it's because Russian hackers have been extending their help -- true or not, it's clear that the US can no longer view Iran as a non-threat in the cyber arena. The Navy has already patched up its security system, but the US government is reportedly still waiting for what comes out of the US-Iran talks before deciding whether to take action.
Daily Roundup: ASUS PadFone Infinity hands-on, Nokia 'innovation reinvented' event, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Iranians' glimpse of Facebook and Twitter freedom was due to a 'technical failure'
Yesterday, for a brief spell, ordinary Iranian citizens were able to talk to each other via Twitter and Facebook -- services that had been officially banned since 2009. Today, however, they awoke to discover that the government had fully restored its anti-social blockade, with one communications official dismissing the whole episode as a "technical failure" stemming from some ISPs. That's not necessarily true, however, and another possible explanation is that yesterday's events were the result of a tussle between emerging pro-internet moderates like Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, and hard-liners elsewhere in the country's power structure. Alternatively, some fear that the temporary lifting of the ban was a ploy to allow the authorities to trace would-be Facebook users. In any case, the communication official's response to the glitch sounds ominous: "We will take action if there was a human flaw," he's quoted as saying. "We are probing it."
Iran seemingly lifts restrictions on Facebook and Twitter access
It hasn't been outrightly confirmed by the government of Iran, but at least some within the nation's borders are now able to access both Twitter and Facebook. For those keeping score, public access to the networks has been banned since 2009, shortly after the reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, seems fairly convinced that Iran itself should not be restricting its citizens to information available via social channels, and a number of trusted accounts -- including Rouhani himself along with The New York Times' Thomas Erdbrink -- have tweeted in recent hours without the use of a proxy. It's unclear whether the lift is intentional, or if it's scheduled to remain permanently, but we're obviously hoping it's a sign of meaningful change.
Government bans female League of Legends characters at Iranian tourney
League of Legends players will be short a few fighters at Iran's World Cyber Games tournament that's scheduled to begin on September 12th. The Iranian government has its knickers in a knot over some of the MOBA's more scantily clad femme fatales, and so tourney participants will have to do without the services of champions including Ahri, Miss Fortune, Lulu, and dozens of others. Kotaku reports that WGC Iran may be forced to shut down the tournament altogether if it doesn't comply with the ban, though it's worth noting that a few female avatars are "under consideration for tournament play."
Apple to begin selling devices to customers who wish to bring them to Iran
Apple will begin selling its Mac and iOS products to customers who wish to take them into Iran, reports the Wall Street Journal. Previously there had been a US government ban on any electronics manufacturer selling products to customers intent on taking them back to the country, but the Obama administration has recently lifted those sanctions in the hopes of getting technology to Iranian citizens after a crackdown by the Iranian government on protesters and the means they use to communicate, including devices that allow them to spread the word on social media. Last year, people unfamiliar with the US sanctions assumed Apple chose not to sell to Iranian customers who told Apple Store employees they meant to ship purchases back to their families in Iran. Regarding the lifting of the US sanctions, and Apple spokesperson told the WSJ: "We've been told by the US government that most Apple products are covered by regulatory changes announced by the Treasury Department. As a result, Apple is no longer banned from selling Macs and iOS devices to customers who plan to bring or send those products to Iran." Though electronics companies are no longer banned for selling products to Iranian citizens who wish to take them back home, those companies are still banned from selling products to the Iranian government.
Apple may now sell the iPhone in Iran
The US Treasury Department has opened a door that could allow Apple to sell iPhones in Iran. The Treasury Department has made an agreement to allow exportation to Iran "of certain services, software and hardware incident to personal communications," which would include Apple's mobile devices. This is good in a few different ways: Apple employees in the past have been rumored to not sell iPhones to people of Iranian descent, and in addition to the company from Cupertino being able to sell iPhones directly inside Iran itself, this should also prevent any other issues along those lines, thankfully. This isn't a completely open policy, however -- the Treasury Department still won't allow sales directly to the Iranian government, or to people or organizations in Iran on a "Specially Designated Nationals" list. So Apple doesn't have carte blanche to sell iPhones over there. But at least those sanctions issues can be laid to rest, and Apple can go forward with exporting consumer-focused devices over there.
Iran blocks VPN access to global web, cracks down on 'illegal' filter workaround
Iran's struggle with the unfiltered internet is well documented -- the nation has spent years fending off cyber attacks, blocking access and potentially fencing its own intranet off from the outside world. Sites like YouTube and Facebook can often only be accessed by using a VPN, bypassing the country's internet filter. Sadly, Iranian users may have to get their Harlem shake fix elsewhere: Iran is putting the lid on "illegal" VPN access. "Within the last few days illegal VPN ports in the country have been blocked," explained Ramezanali Sobhani-Fard, Iran's head of information and communications technology committee. "Only legal and registered VPNs can from now on be used." Registered and legal VPN access can still be purchased, but the typical filter workarounds no longer work. That's not stopping Iran's most dedicated internet users though: one local took to Facebook to confirm that VPN access had been restricting, noting that he was using an unrelated method to dodge Iran's content control efforts. The crackdown may have also blocked access to commonly used sites, such as Yahoo or Google Parliament plans to study the issue more in the coming week, and will presumably tweak the policy as necessary.
Symantec: work on Stuxnet worm started two years earlier than first thought
Most of us think we know the tale of Stuxnet: it's a possibly government-sponsored worm that played havoc with Iranian centrifuges in 2009, setting back the country's uranium enrichment program without involving any traditional weapons. Researchers at Symantec, however, now claim there's an untold narrative. They've discovered a Stuxnet 0.5 version that may have been in development or active as soon as November 2005, two years before the commonly accepted timeline. It first surfaced on trackers in November 2007, and would have created wider-ranging chaos at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility by closing vital pressure valves instead of using the subtler centrifuge technique. Symantec also noticed that this pre-1.0 malware shares traits with the Flamer code base, putting it in the context of an even larger effort than seen so far. Moreover, it would have required extensive knowledge of the Natanz infrastructure -- this was no casual attack, according to the researchers. While we may never know exactly what prompted the revamp, IAEA evidence suggests that Stuxnet wasn't truly effective until the better-known version came into play. We mostly know that modern cyberwarfare had its fair share of growing pains -- and that it's not as fresh-faced as we assumed.
Cisco reportedly drops sales pact with ZTE after claims of roundabout Iran dealings
ZTE might already be feeling heat from Congressional suspicions, but the company could soon take a more direct hit to the pocketbook. Cisco has reportedly dropped an already rocky seven-year deal with ZTE after it learned that the Chinese firm had been selling Cisco's networking gear to the Telecommunication Company of Iran as recently as July of last year. Being implicated in an end-run around US trade sanctions isn't great for business, as you'd imagine. While Cisco CEO John Chambers wouldn't directly confirm the severed link in a chat with Reuters, he noted that we would "not see that [sort of deal] happen again" -- an indication that his company at least isn't happy with the current state of affairs. ZTE isn't waiting for any public acknowledgment to voice its frustration and says it's "highly concerned," although it's not helped by allegations from its own US general counsel that there was an attempt to cover up the Iranian link. Nothing is definite until the investigations go public, but the Iran connection could make it that much harder for ZTE to keep US customers regardless of its distance from the Chinese government.
Iran claims to have been hit by 'heavy' cyber attack, pins slowdowns on coordinated hacking campaign
Whatever you think of Iran's politics, it's hard to deny that the country has frequently been the target of internet-based attacks that sometimes go beyond the originator's plans. If you believe High Council of Cyberspace secretary Mehdi Akhavan Behabadi, the pressure is only getting worse. He tells Iranian media that the nation is under "constant" digital bombardment and was just hit with a major assault on Tuesday that bogged down local internet access. Behabadi unsurprisingly contends that the attacks are deliberate efforts to undermine Iran's data, nuclear and oil infrastructures, with a finger implicitly pointed westward. While it's no secret that the country's enemies want to slow down what they see as a rush towards nuclear weapons, it's difficult to know how much of the accusation is serious versus bluster: we've seen individual smartphone users who consume more than the "several gigabytes" of traffic that reportedly caused national chaos in the most recent incident. No matter the exact nature, it's likely that residents stand to lose as Iran fences off the internet to keep outside influences, hostile and otherwise, from getting in. [Image credit: Amir1140, Wikipedia]
Iran unblocks Gmail, admits it only wants to restrict YouTube in the country
Iranians who lost access to Gmail on September 24th should now be able to access their emails again after the government relaxed its ban. Telecommunications minister Rezi Miri conceded that the internet filter used couldn't distinguish between the eponymous email service and YouTube, which has been banned for distributing inflammatory materials. Officials have said that, at least initially, its own proprietary intranet will exist alongside the internet, but didn't go into specifics. [Original Image: Wikimedia Commons]
Iran announces plans to create isolated local internet system, fate of global access unknown
Iranians have been having trouble accessing YouTube, Gmail and other Google services for some time now, but their digital world may be growing even smaller -- Iran announced today that it plans to shuffle citizens onto its own domestic version of the web. Reuters reports that officials plan to connect citizens to the national information network that's currently in use at government agencies. Iran hopes to complete the transition by March of next year, and is already taking steps to isolate its population from certain international services. "Google and Gmail will be filtered throughout the country until further notice," an Iranian official added, noting that the ban would commence in "a few hours." Some locals, such as the Iranian Students' News Agency, are attributing the ban to recent protests sparked by a trailer for an anti-Islamic film on YouTube called Innocence of Muslims, but the government has made no official comment on the reason behind the ban. The state isn't clear on the fate of the global internet in Iran, either -- although it has talked about creating an isolated national network before. Here's hoping the new network will be a compliment to the Persian web, and not a substitute. [Image credit: yeowatzup, Flickr]
Blizzard cites US trade restrictions for disconnecting Iranian players
Blizzard Entertainment has disconnected Iranian players from Battle.net, preventing access to online-required games World of Warcraft and Diablo 3. The company states it has tightened its procedures to comply with current US law."Blizzard Entertainment cannot speak to any reports surrounding the Iranian government restricting games from its citizens," the company posted on the WoW forums. "What we can tell you is that United States trade restrictions and economic sanction laws prohibit Blizzard from doing business with residents of certain nations, including Iran."The issue isn't a one-way street. Iran has also made moves to block online games for cultural reasons.Blizzard is unable to provide "refunds, credits, transfers, or other service options to accounts" in Iran and will "happily lift these restrictions as soon as US law allows."
Iran blocks Guild Wars, World of Warcraft
Reports are coming in that Iran is moving to block access to several MMOs, including World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. This comes following a conference by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance earlier this month. At the conference, the Islamic Revolution Game Designers Community was formed and decided to ban games that promote superstition, mythology, violence, and revealing clothing. Following the decision, the government started cracking down on various services and MMOs, such as Battle.net's library and ArenaNet's Guild Wars series. Other games targeted include RuneScape, Second Life, Dofus, Evony, and Entropia Universe. It's unclear to what extent the government is attempting to enforce these bans, and Iranian players are looking into workaround solutions to access their MMOs. It's interesting to note that Blizzard does not authorize downloads of its products or services in Iran.
US Navy deploys SeaFox submarines to Persian Gulf for universal mine control
Tasked with mine detection and eradication in the Persian Gulf, the US Navy has sent a fleet of unmanned submarines to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open in Iran. Dubbed the SeaFox, each vehicle houses an underwater TV camera, sonar and a dose of explosives. Tipping the scales at less than 100 pounds, the subs are about four feet in length and are controlled via fiber optic cable that sends the live feed back to the captain of each ship. SeaFoxes can dive to depths of 300 meters and boasts a top speed of six knots. The units are thrust into action from helicopters, small rubber boats and off the rear of minesweepers and are capable of disposing of the aforementioned weapons of both the floating and drifting sort. There is one small catch: the $100,000 submarine destroys itself in the process, making each successful trek a suicide mission of sorts.
Flame malware extinguishes itself, Microsoft protects against future burns
The folks behind that nasty Flame trojan that burned its way through the Middle East aren't the kind to brag -- the malware's manufacturers apparently started dousing their own fire last week. According to Symantec reports, several compromised machines retrieved a file named browse32.ocx from Flame controlled servers, which promptly removed all traces of the malware from the infected systems. Although the attackers seem spooked, Microsoft isn't taking any chances, and has issued a fix to its Windows Server Update Services to block future attacks. The update hopes to protect networked machines from a similar attack by requiring HTTPS inspection servers to funnel Windows update traffic through an exception rule, bypassing its inspection. The attackers? "They're trying to cover their tracks in any way they can," Victor Thakur, principal security response manager at Symantec told the LA Times, "They know they're being watched." Check out the source link below for the Symantec's run down of the trojan's retreat.
Stuxnet pinned on US and Israel as an out-of-control creation
Ever since Stuxnet was discovered, most of the accusing fingers have been pointed at the US, Israel or both, whether or not there was any evidence; it was hard to ignore malware that seemed tailor-made for wrecking Iranian centrifuges and slowing down the country's nuclear development. As it turns out, Occam's Razor is in full effect. An exposé from the New York Times matter-of-factly claims that the US and Israel coded Stuxnet as part of a cyberwar op, Olympic Games, and snuck it on to a USB thumb drive that infected computers at the Natanz nuclear facility. The reason we know about the infection at all, insiders say, is that it got out of control: someone modified the code or otherwise got it to spread through an infected PC carried outside, pushing Obama to either double down (which he did) or back off. Despite all its connections, the newspaper couldn't confirm whether or not the new Flame malware attack is another US creation. Tipsters did, however, deny that Flame is part of the Olympic Games push -- raising the possibility that there are other agencies at work. [Image credit: David Holt, Flickr]
Flame malware snoops on PCs across the Middle East, makes Stuxnet look small-time
Much ado was made when security experts found Stuxnet wreaking havoc, but it's looking as though the malware was just a prelude to a much more elaborate attack that's plaguing the Middle East. Flame, a backdoor Windows trojan, doesn't just sniff and steal nearby network traffic info -- it uses your computer's hardware against you. The rogue code nabs phone data over Bluetooth, spreads over USB drives and records conversations from the PC's microphone. If that isn't enough to set even the slightly paranoid on edge, it's also so complex that it has to infect a PC in stages; Flame may have been attacking computers since 2010 without being spotted, and researchers at Kaspersky think it may be a decade before they know just how much damage the code can wreak. No culprit has been pinpointed yet, but a link to the same printer spool vulnerability used by Stuxnet has led researchers to suspect that it may be another instance of a targeted cyberwar attack given that Iran, Syria and a handful of other countries in the region are almost exclusively marked as targets. Even if you live in a 'safe' region, we'd keep an eye out for any suspicious activity knowing that even a fully updated Windows 7 PC can be compromised.
