INTERNET TECHNOLOGY: LIBERATING OR CONTROLLING?
Dr. Farid Farahmand War & Peace Series Fall 2013 So!. Is the Internet technology •! Internet has opened a new dimension of communications •! Facilitated out lives •! Yet,giving it has become us a tool moreof control! control •! governments and corporations continue to control flow, content, use, and infrastructure OR taking us under control ? Information Technology
Food processing Nano- and Agriculture Technology Manufacturing
Information TechnologyOther !
Automotive & Battery/Wind/ Robotics Semi-conductor Solar Energy ITInformation technology Processing Cycle allowsInformation us to perform Technology informationData Inform. processing cycle Food processing Nano- and Agriculture Technology Manufacturing
Information TechnologyOther !
Automotive & Battery/Wind/ Robotics Semi-conductor Solar Energy Information Processing Cycle Information Technology
Data Inform.
Food processing Manipulate/Store Nano- and Agriculture Technology Manufacturing
Information TechnologyOther !
Automotive & Battery/Wind/ Robotics Semi-conductor Solar Energy IT Impacting All Other Technologies – Digitizing the Information
Others Nano- Technology Manufacturing Information Technology DIGITIZING THE DATA
Automotive Battery/Wind Semi-conductor IT Impacting All Other Technologies - Utilized by all other technologies
Others Nano- Technology Manufacturing Information Technology DIGITIZING THE DATA
Automotive Battery/Wind Semi-conductor Internet & IT Infrastructure
•!The Internet is the enabling technology
Internet Internet & WWW
•!The World Wide Web is a technology that can provides many services over the Internet
!! Finding Directions !! Shopping !! Chatting ! Music ! WWW !! News !! File Sharing
Access to the Internet Services - Increasingly via Smartphones
Laptops: Offering mobility PCs: Promising Individual Freedom Smart Phones: Anytime, anywhere! (smaller & more powerful) Mainframes:
Large machines, Limited access Today about half of Internet users in the U.S. use their smartphones to get online! Smartphones: Integrated Part of Our Lives!
125 million iPhones in 2012 53 million iPads in 2012 748 million Androids in 2013 Smartphones:
Anywhere, Anytime! 3.37 Billion worldwide email accounts
Have access to cell phones 40 percent of people with iPhones said they'd rather give up brushing their teeth Text Blindfolded! for a week than go without their phone! (Chicago Tribune, 2011 )
Percent who said they could only go a few hours without their mobile phone: 34% I Cannot Get on the Internet! What Were the Early Expectations of the Internet?
Early Expectations – Early 70’s
•! Internet became the technology of liberation •! Techno-utopian dreamers were promising a cybernetic meadow •! Fred Turner coined the term Virtual Reality: •! A technological paradise where people are linked together •! An unconstrained reality free from existing physical, social & political boundaries •! The WWW brought the notion of Heavenly City – Promising liberation from rules and routines The Reality of the Internet – Fast forward 40 years
•! The Internet turned out to be an extremely powerful and a mysterious technology •! Revolutionized our lives & empowered us in many ways •! Education, Commerce, Healthcare, etc. •! It has also become an instrument of bureaucratic control •! Created a conduit for profiting & monitoring
In tn minuts! Getting Connected 18:87:00:bf:99:0 to the Internet 16.34.23.101
1.! Internet-enabled Device •! Each device has a unique hardware address 2.! Internet Service Provider (ISP) •! Examples: AT&T, Vertizon, Netzero, etc. •! They provide IP (Internet Protocol) address •! Also offer services such as email, web page, etc. 3.! Physical Connection •! Provided by the phone company or the ISP
IP: 168.34.23.101 18:87:00:bf:99:0
The Internet In Action Addressing Email
IP: 168.34.23.101 f0:f4:79:50:df:b6
The Internet HEADER------IP: 168.34.23.101 MAC: f0:f4:79:50:df:b6 ISP & Location Tracing A Simple Email From YAHOO!
HEADER------IP: 168.34.23.101 MAC: f0:f4:79:50:df:b6 ISP & Location
The Internet In Action – Message Blocking (Firewall)
IP: 168.34.23.101 flexnet.com
f0:f4:79:50:df:b6
The Internet The Internet In Action – Message Content Monitoring
Server Lunch?
IP: 168.34.23.101 Email: Lunch? The Internet In Action – Metadata Monitoring
IP: 168.34.23.101 To: Joe
Metadata – Data Content (Payload) – NOT Encrypted) Maybe Encrypted
From To Data: Let’s Have Lunch Metadata: What Does it Reveal?
•! Putting subtle pattern out of your data •! Are you pregnant? •! Are you Sick? •! Where are you going to school? •! Are you moving out? •! Are you traveling soon? •! Finding your connections •! Whom are you communicating with
Metadata is NOT encrypted! Does it mean we can collect them? MIT MEDIA LAB: Immersion Software Who is Running the Internet? Internet Traffic Drop by 40% When Google Goes down for 2 min.! Server
OR The Big Picture Each Click Generates Revenue! Server !! Bulk data collection !! Out interests
!! Purchasing patterns
!! Impacting out Actions
OR Smartphones: Becoming More Traceable
Digital Trail
Reveal Our Connections Reveal Private Information So!.
•! Internet has opened a new dimension of communications •! FacilitatedInternet out lives has changed our lives! •! Yet, it has become a tool of control! •! governments and corporations continue to control flow, content, use, and infrastructure Yet, It is increasingly becoming a tool to monitor & control! Internet: Enabling Technology of Control !for very good reasons!
Corporate Government Control of Control of The Internet The Internet
1-National Security •! Terrorism •! Preserve sovereignty 2-National Laws •! cyber crime •! child porn., •! Gambling, •! Intel. property rights, •! etc.)
Internet Liberation- A Common Perception
“Once the Internet reaches a country it is an unstoppable liberating force” • Color Revolutions of the former Soviet Union, it was mobile phones • Saffron Revolution in Burma, it was YouTube • Green Movement in Iran, it was Twitter
Internet Liberation – An Illusion?
•!Governments are becoming more powerful & capable to control their domestic Internet! •! Sophisticated filtering technology •! Subtle removal of Web requests •! Tracing emails •! Arresting bloggers For States: Internet is not the Problem! The trouble is Uncontrolled Internet Use! Controlling The Internet: Governments Asking to Censor the Internet
•! In the second half of 2011 the total number of government requests to Google jumped by 103 percent •! Google complied with 63 percent of the requests
Google Transparency Report 2,285 (24,179) 1,811 (18,070) Content Removal Request Time Period Ending Controlling The Internet: Governments Censoring The Internet – 2011 Examples
• Spain: requested removal of 270 search results that linked to improper blogs and sites • Canada: ordered removal of a YouTube clip disfiguring a public document (a man urinating on his Canadian passport) • Thailand: requested blocking local users from viewing more than 100 videos insulting the monarchy • Turkey: ordered restricting access to videos insulting the founder of modern Turkey (Ataturk) Controlling The Internet: Blocking/Filtering
•! Saudi Arabia: The government filters any topics related to drugs, bombs, alcohol, gambling - authorities receive over 1,200 requests everyday to have web pages blocked •! Kuwait: A 20 year old blogger gets 10 years in prison for defaming the Saudi & Bahraini government •! Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights was sentenced on July 10 to three months in prison for a tweetJune 2013: WhatsApp must •! Oman: Four young men received 3-6 months in prison for posting on socialestablish networks a local server that •! U.K.: A 17 year allowsold was detainedofficials after to monitor sending a malicious tweet to British Olympic Diver: “You let your dad down, I hope you know it” user activity! •! Israel: "Facebook posts and Twitter feed” matter of state security – “We [the censors] try to operate within the internet only in terms of elements related to us.” Internet In the U.S. New Revelations Early June of 2013 Former National Security Agent Contractor, Edward Snowden Revealed Secret Documents!
Massive Internet Surveillance Edward Snowden Documents
•! Intelligent agencies including Government Communication Headquarter & NSA working with high-tech companies were snooping on EVERYONE!
$250 million/year Massive Internet Surveillance Edward Snowden Documents (1)
1.! Conducting massive surveillance programs secretly •! Bulk data collection on citizens (PRISM, 2007) •! Creating taps on transatlantic fiber optic cables (TEMPORA) 2.! Spying on friendly foreign allies •! Hacking into foreign targets’ computers, confiscating data and monitoring communiqué (TAO) Massive Internet Surveillance Edward Snowden Documents (2)
3.! Defeating encryption programs •! Developing counter encryption program (EDGEHILL & BULLRUN) 4.! Collecting and monitoring METADATA •! Collecting social connections of U.S. citizens 5.! Compromising cyber security •! Hardware backdoor: Encryption chips •! Software malwares: BSAFE software, The Big Leak!
Server
OR The Big Leak! So!.
• Internet has opened a new dimension of communications ! Jay Leno: •! Facilitated out lives "I•! Yet, am it hasglad become the agovernment tool of control! is shut down”! •! governments and corporations continue to control flow, content, use, and infrastructure “For the first time in years it's safe to talk on the phone and send emails without anybody listening in!" Defending Internet Freedom or Conducting Internet Spying? • Welcoming the whistle blowers from Iran, Cuba, and China • NSA has created a massive surveillance system capable of snooping on every individual, company, or foreign government! • “Internet is American!” • “Gmail is the preferred Internet service provider of terrorists worldwide,” Hayden (Ex-NSA/CIA Chief) Defending Internet Freedom or Conducting Internet Spying?
2008 2013 Internet Surveillance Hurting the Bottomlines!
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF): US cloud providers stand to lose $22-$35 billion over the next 2008 three years! 2013 Internet Surveillance Hurting the Bottomlines!
2008 2013 $e 62%# Potential Consequences “Anyway, I Have Nothing to Hide!”
•! In the modern communications age every thing we do leaves a digital trail! •! Some valid questions:
•! Can we trust NSA Analysts to have so much power? “Agents illegally spied on love interests”
•! Does NSA really ensures the security of the gathered data? NSA still does not know the full extend of Snowden documents
•! Should there be a limit as to NSA’s blank surveillance? Sen. Feinstein's NSA 'reform' bill would expand snooping powers Future of the Internet? You Be the Judge! • In a recent hearing Senator Mark Udall asked : • “Is it the goal of the NSA to collect the phone records of all Americans?” • In response, NSA director Keith Alexander replied: • “Yes, I believe it is in the nation's best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we could search when the nation needs to do it. Yes,”
The new $1.5 billion NSA data center in Bluffdale, Utah, will be able to, by some estimates, store the equivalent of 250 trillion DVDs worth of data Final Remarks…..
• Any technology can only fit within the socio-economic structure of the society • Technology in a country with oppressive government will turn into tool of oppressor • Become more more aware and demand public monitoring • Know what you are disclosing • Use privacy tools and filtering • Protect your network address • Promote Net Neutrality, Public Broadcasting, Internet Freedom • Ask the right questions! • How is your privacy protected? • Who is monitoring? • What is being monitored?