Page 37 - IRANRptJul19

other cross-border travel services connecting Iran to the South Caucasus. One service offers a bus service which originates in Iraq, traverses Iran and finishes in Armenia . Due to the low cost of state-subsidised fuel in Iran, Iranian coach operators have a good shot at profitability compared to peers elsewhere.
9.1.5 TMT sector news
Iran and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement to expand cooperation in information and communications technology (ICT), Xinhua reported Eghtesad Online news website as saying on May 21.
Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Elmir Valizadeh and Iran's Deputy ICT Minister Hossein Fallah signed the deal in Baku last week.
The joint ICT cooperation agreement reportedly includes developing communication infrastructures, expanding internet coverage, space and satellite technologies, radio frequency management, cybersecurity, postal services and mobile network management.
Based on the deal, the two countries agreed to work on smart solutions addressing interference in radio and television signals along their shared border and to help promote technological activities by holding joint exhibitions and conferences.
They also agreed to form a joint research and development taskforce in space and satellite technologies by exchanging ICT experts, university students and instructors, while also sharing laboratories, research facilities and scientific experiences.
Iran has developed a native firewall to neutralise Stuxnet and other computer viruses that might threaten its industry and infrastructure, IRNA reported on May 16, citing Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi.
Iran is no stranger to computer viruses and hacks—the Stuxnet computer worm, widely believed to have been developed by the US and Israel, was discovered in 2010 after it was successfully used to attack a uranium enrichment facility at Iran’s Natanz nuclear site. Brought into a closed network via a USB memory drive from an infected home computer, it was the first publicly known example of a virus being used to attack industrial machinery. The Iranians, facing an increasingly aggressive sanctions attack from the US as well as an American military build-up in the Gulf region seen by Tehran as “psychological warfare” that could lead to military clashes if hawks in the Trump administration have their way, are on high alert for further and intensified computer virus attacks from their enemies. They are representing the locally developed firewall as part of their first line of defence in the battle with Washington, which is backed by Tel Aviv and Riyadh in its attempt at strangling Iran’s economy to force concessions in Tehran’s Middle East policy. “Iran's university scientists have developed a firewall for industrial automation systems to neutralise industrial sabotage such as that caused by Stuxnet in power networks, and it was successfully tested,” Azari-Jahromi said on his Twitter account.
Iranian infrastructure has been the target of several dozen digital attacks in recent years. Last November, according to Azari-Jahromi, a Stuxnet attack failed to harm Iran’s communications infrastructures. He accused Israel of being behind it. Israel declines to comment on whether or not it is involved in a
37 IRAN Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com