Aghamiri: In one area, we disrupted Starlink communications by 80%

The secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyber Space announced the technical disruption in Starlink communications during the events of January and said that there is no accurate statistics of the number of users of this technology in Iran. He also talked about the plan to announce the results of the cyber security rating of banks next week and pay attention to the necessary access during the time of international internet restrictions. […] By Aghamiri: In one area, we disrupted Starlink communications by 80%, the first time in ICTN

According to ICT News, Seyed Mohammad Amin Aghamiri, the secretary of the Supreme Council and the head of the National Center for Virtual Space, explained the latest status of the National Information Network, management of Starlink satellite communications, cyber security and policies related to international Internet access in a press conference on Tuesday, October 21, 1405.

One of the important points of this meeting was Aghamiri's explanation about the technical measures taken to disrupt Starlink communications during the events of January. He also stated that there are no accurate statistics of the use of this technology in the country.

80% disruption of Starlink communications in an area

Referring to the measures taken to manage Starlink communications during the events of January, Aghamiri said that in a certain area, about 80% of Packet Loss was created in the communications of this network and the remaining 20% did not have the required efficiency.

Packet loss is a situation where part of the information packets sent on the communication path do not reach the destination. Increasing this index can reduce the quality of communication and disrupt the use of services that require a stable connection.

The head of the National Center for Virtual Space emphasized that there are various mechanisms and technical tools to manage this satellite technology, and the complexity of satellite communication technologies does not mean that they are uncontrollable. However, he did not explain the technical details of the instruments used, the method of performing the disruption, or the possibility of generalizing this result to other regions.

At the same time, Aghamiri said that the exact statistics of the number of Starlink users in Iran are not available. This issue makes it difficult to independently assess the extent of the use of this technology and the impact of the announced measures on its users.

Starlink from the point of view of the National Center for Virtual Space; More than a communication tool

In another part of his speech, the Secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyber Space, referring to the use of satellite communications in military conflicts, did not consider Starlink to be merely a means of accessing the Internet. According to him, this technology can be used to command and control forces, guide drones and transmit information.

Aghamiri, proposing the view that Starlink is considered part of the communication and operational infrastructure in some conflicts, said that Iran follows different technical paths to manage the communication of this technology.

He also announced the pursuit of interaction with aligned countries to exchange experience and share technologies related to Starlink management, and said that other countries are also following measures in this field.

According to Aghamiri, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned Norway about sending frequencies related to Starlink. He did not provide further details about this diplomatic pursuit and its outcome.

Aghamiri's criticism of the financing of filtered internet access tools

In another part of the meeting, the head of the National Center for Virtual Space criticized the US support for some filtered internet access tools in Iran. He claimed that the cost of the siphon filtering tool is provided by the United States and emphasized the necessity of examining the financial resources of these tools.

This comment was made in the context of Aghamiri's view on the role of Internet access tools and their relationship with government policies. During this part of the meeting, no documentary details were provided about the mentioned financing mechanism or its dimensions.

Access of essential groups to the international Internet in limited conditions

The issue of access to the international Internet in critical conditions was also one of the main topics of the meeting. Aghamiri said that decisions about internet restrictions in such circumstances are related to different institutions and security considerations play a role in these decisions.

At the same time, he emphasized the need to pay attention to the needs of groups such as university professors, businessmen, and journalists, and said that the necessary mechanisms should be provided to ensure the access needed by these groups.

These statements once again raise the issue of the continuation of economic, scientific and media activities at the time of international internet restrictions. Stable access to scientific resources and communication with foreign business partners, along with the ability to perform the professional duties of journalists, are among the needs that face limitations in such circumstances.

Aghamiri also mentioned the role of the national information network in the continuity of providing some domestic services. In the media coverage of the meeting, payment services with store terminals, Shad educational network and some internal social networks were mentioned as examples of services that can be continued through internal infrastructure.

However, the continued operation of domestic services does not necessarily mean that all economic and professional consequences of an interruption or limitation of the international Internet are resolved; Because part of the activity of businesses and institutions depends on services, communications and resources that are outside the internal network.

The progress of the national information network has reached nearly 60%

About the state of the National Information Network, Aghamiri also said that the progress of this project has increased from 20% to nearly 60% in the last two to three years. Referring to the evaluations done in March, he explained that the results of the new evaluation were in the same range and were slightly lower than the previous figure.

According to the head of the National Cyber Space Center, weekly meetings are held with the Minister of Communications and Information Technology to follow up on issues related to the National Information Network. At the same time, he pointed out the existence of some shortcomings in areas such as search engines and technical services, and considered improving the quality and speed of domestic and foreign services as important issues.

The figures announced about the progress of the national information network provide a general picture of the evaluation of this project; However, to measure its impact on users' experience, indicators such as connection quality and stability, infrastructure capacity, service quality, and the degree of dependence of services on international communications are also important.

Announcing the results of the cyber security rating of banks next week

The head of the National Center for Cyberspace announced the plan to announce the results of the cyber security rating of banks next week. According to him, the security assessment of cyber space service providers is on the agenda and after the initial assessment, the relevant institutions have been given the opportunity to fix the identified weaknesses.

Aghamiri said that the results of this process will be announced after the deadline for correction and re-evaluation. He also announced the beginning of security assessment processes in universities.

Publishing the results of these evaluations can provide more information about the state of cyber security of the country's important service providers to the public. The degree of transparency of indicators, evaluation method and how to deal with identified weaknesses are among the issues that will be important when the results are published.

Aghamiri also emphasized that cyber attacks continue even during periods of internet restrictions. He mentioned attacks such as distributed denial of service attacks, technical attacks, social engineering, malware and professional intrusions and said that serious attacks have occurred in recent weeks, most of which have been managed, but in some cases the attackers have also been successful.

The content revenue sharing mechanism is on the agenda

Another topic raised in the meeting was the income generation of content producers. Aghamiri said that the regulations related to the distribution of income from content consumption have been approved by the relevant authority and its purpose is to allocate a share of the generated income to content producers.

According to him, this mechanism can include areas such as educational, scientific and entertainment content; For example, producers of educational videos can receive a share of the revenue according to the consumption of their content.

The implementation of such a model depends on the way of calculating the income, determining the producer's share, the transparency of content consumption reports and the payment mechanism. The implementation details of these cases can play a decisive role in the impact of regulations on the domestic content economy.

During the press conference, the 32-point document related to the governance of cyber space was removed from the confidential classification and was made available to the public through the journalists present at the event. This action allowed public access to the content of the document.

In explaining the process of compiling this document, Aghamiri mentioned the holding of numerous meetings in the fall of 1403. He also said that other documents will be published in the future.

Supreme Council of Cyber Space; The final reference for decision making

Aghamiri, in response to questions about the role of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and the activity of parallel committees in the government, introduced the Supreme Council as the final decision-making authority in this field. He also described the National Center for Cyberspace as "the regulator of regulators".

In this regard, Aghamiri said: "There is a close relationship and frequent meetings between the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and the Organization and Management Headquarters of Cyberspace, and we are trying to bring our points of view together behind the same table and have a single voice in war situations."