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Does anyone know how Iranians are _actually_ communicating right now? I remember seeing here on HN (admittedly a long time ago) some Bluetooth-mesh technologies

by almogo 9mo ago

Does anyone know how Iranians are _actually_ communicating right now? I remember seeing here on HN (admittedly a long time ago) some Bluetooth-mesh technologies that promised decentralized solutions to these very type of problems

BurningFrog 9mo ago
The only working communication I see mentioned on X is Starlink.
Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
I think IPv4 services are still present no? So like they are very heavily DPI censored though and maybe govts able to spy on any messages you send right now but I feel like there is a still possibility that for the average communication, they might still exist but although heavily heavily censored/bad and I feel like protestors might not be able to communicate (which I feel like is the question you meant to be asking) https://radar.cloudflare.com/routing/ir https://radar.cloudflare.com/routing/ir So TLDR: protestors must have a hard time sadly and they may be using bluetooth mesh or other tech, only they can tell after we figure things out but also lets say some major services websites might still exist after all if they bypass the dpi censorship for IPv4 services. In my opinion, I feel like Protestors must be using mesh based technologies as you mention. We'll see what really ends up happening after we get some reports from Iran.
- tucnak 9mo ago
  It is said they pulled the plug for all peering on Thursday, although I would assume some kind of government-run ISP may be operational still (I haven't checked Cloudlfare radar)
  - Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
    Pardon me but can you please provide me more context regarding it. I am genuinely confused about the ground state of reality in Iran right now regarding Internet access at all can you please take a look at cloudflare radar and see what the current ipv4 connectivity means? Even Ipv4 was blocked for sometime but then it got back to normal in the graph shown in cloudflare radar Can you please tell me what you mean by plug for all peering? Like complete internet blackout?
    - cindyllm 9mo ago
      [dead]
    - s800 9mo ago
      Iranian address space is no longer in the public routing table.
simonmales 9mo ago
You might be referring to Bitchat.
westurner 9mo ago
https://github.com/x011/smtp-tunnel-proxy https://github.com/x011/smtp-tunnel-proxy : > A high-speed covert tunnel that disguises TCP traffic as SMTP email communication to bypass Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) firewalls
- petcat 9mo ago
  It seems like these smuggle-disguise protocols are almost always trivially detectable.
  - westurner 9mo ago
    [flagged]
    - petcat 9mo ago
      what does this have to do with smuggling tcp connections over email
      - westurner 9mo ago
        At that time they created a bunch of spammy noise which caused the social media businesses significant expense. They did that in order to run their foreign interference in US elections agenda, and their foreign agenda of late; and we don't like foreign interference in our elections either. Note the fathers of the sarcastic TV show South Park, all bouncing around on their satellite internet access.
  - VortexLain 9mo ago
    Yes, but such tools aren't popular enough for the censor to specifically target.
- DetectDefect 9mo ago
  No mention of any security review, or even testing. Reason enough to stay away from such tools.
RickJWagner 9mo ago
I saw a comment yesterday from a user claiming to be in Iran. I think he said StarLink was usable. ( Maybe that’s changed, though. )
_DeadFred_ 9mo ago
Maybe better for an after the brutal theocratic regime crackdown discussion?

by almogo 9mo ago

BurningFrog 9mo ago

The only working communication I see mentioned on X is Starlink.

Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago

I think IPv4 services are still present no? So like they are very heavily DPI censored though and maybe govts able to spy on any messages you send right now but I feel like there is a still possibility that for the average communication, they might still exist but although heavily heavily censored/bad and I feel like protestors might not be able to communicate (which I feel like is the question you meant to be asking) https://radar.cloudflare.com/routing/ir https://radar.cloudflare.com/routing/ir So TLDR: protestors must have a hard time sadly and they may be using bluetooth mesh or other tech, only they can tell after we figure things out but also lets say some major services websites might still exist after all if they bypass the dpi censorship for IPv4 services. In my opinion, I feel like Protestors must be using mesh based technologies as you mention. We'll see what really ends up happening after we get some reports from Iran.

tucnak 9mo ago
It is said they pulled the plug for all peering on Thursday, although I would assume some kind of government-run ISP may be operational still (I haven't checked Cloudlfare radar)
- Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
  Pardon me but can you please provide me more context regarding it. I am genuinely confused about the ground state of reality in Iran right now regarding Internet access at all can you please take a look at cloudflare radar and see what the current ipv4 connectivity means? Even Ipv4 was blocked for sometime but then it got back to normal in the graph shown in cloudflare radar Can you please tell me what you mean by plug for all peering? Like complete internet blackout?
  - cindyllm 9mo ago
    [dead]
  - s800 9mo ago
    Iranian address space is no longer in the public routing table.

simonmales 9mo ago

You might be referring to Bitchat.

westurner 9mo ago

https://github.com/x011/smtp-tunnel-proxy https://github.com/x011/smtp-tunnel-proxy : > A high-speed covert tunnel that disguises TCP traffic as SMTP email communication to bypass Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) firewalls

petcat 9mo ago
It seems like these smuggle-disguise protocols are almost always trivially detectable.
- westurner 9mo ago
  [flagged]
  - petcat 9mo ago
    what does this have to do with smuggling tcp connections over email
    - westurner 9mo ago
      At that time they created a bunch of spammy noise which caused the social media businesses significant expense. They did that in order to run their foreign interference in US elections agenda, and their foreign agenda of late; and we don't like foreign interference in our elections either. Note the fathers of the sarcastic TV show South Park, all bouncing around on their satellite internet access.
- VortexLain 9mo ago
  Yes, but such tools aren't popular enough for the censor to specifically target.
DetectDefect 9mo ago
No mention of any security review, or even testing. Reason enough to stay away from such tools.

RickJWagner 9mo ago

I saw a comment yesterday from a user claiming to be in Iran. I think he said StarLink was usable. ( Maybe that’s changed, though. )

_DeadFred_ 9mo ago

Maybe better for an after the brutal theocratic regime crackdown discussion?