Iran Considers Providing Government-Approved VPNs To Internet Users - Official

Government-approved Virtual Private Networks (VPN) will be made available in Iran soon since a lucrative economy has grown around Iranian internet users' determination to surf the web anonymously, a cybersecurity official said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2019) Government-approved Virtual Private Networks (VPN) will be made available in Iran soon since a lucrative economy has grown around Iranian internet users' determination to surf the web anonymously, a cybersecurity official said on Monday.

"Since many organizations and people use VPN, and it has grown into quite a lucrative economy, we are hoping that legal VPN operators will be launched in the country in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (ICT)," Secretary of Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace Abolhassan Firouzabadi said, according to the Mehr news Agency.

Firouzabadi added that a working group has been tasked with drafting guidelines regarding internet accessibility, according to the agency.

Although internet penetration is high in Iran compared to its neighbors, many of the world's most popular sites are blocked, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others. This has fueled a multi-million Dollar market for VPN and proxy providers.

What access and freedoms will be granted within the proposed VPN remains unclear.

Iran has implemented mechanisms to be able to cut itself off from the world Internet but still remain internally cohesive in case of cyberattacks from abroad. The system was built after a 2010 malware attack against Iran's nuclear facilities, widely believed to be carried out by Israel.