Page 47 - IRANRptDec19

Amnesty International latest estimation released on December 2—to the loss of at least 208 lives. Access was only permitted for some online services such as ride-hailing apps. However, Iran is thought to have enjoyed success in keeping vital banking, health and other infrastructure going using its “halal net”, a domestic intranet service, during the switching off of the global network. That has led to anxieties that regimes around the world will attempt to imitate the system and shutdown approach to deal with future outbreaks of social unrest. Despite Jahromi’s releasing of his $90mn figure, some internet experts have circulated disconnection cost estimates of as much as $1.5bn, especially as commercial insurance does not cover nationwide internet shutdowns imposed by the government.
Jahromi said in an interview with ISNA that his damages figure came from the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA).
He noted that "(MTN-)Irancell suffered most of this damage" but declined to say why it was hurt the most. MTN-Irancell is the second largest internet provider in Iran by number of subscribers and has a wider catchment provided by 4G modem connections.
The minister added that "according to the executive director of the State Postal Company, the decline in their income during the period of disconnecting the Internet was 40%".
On November 23, Iran began a process to gradually ​restore access to the world wide web​, with mobile networks reconnected in stages.
Online sales website, Ponisha, which specialises in handicrafts, said on Twitter it saw a 90% decline in transactions inside Iran during the internet shutdown.
Iranian Minister of Information and Communication Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has said Iran stopped 33mn cyberattacks in the past year, IRIB reported.
Jahromi made the claim in an address to ministers at the recent Munich Security Conference in the Qatari capital of Doha, it added.
The minister reportedly reiterated that Iran has developed its own internal firewall system to ward off cyber attacks on the country. Officials in Iran claim most of the attacks originate from foes including the US and Israel. “Unilateralism and resorting to sanctions [as the US has done in its approach to Iran] constitute threats against international security in the cyber sector,” the technology minister was cited as saying, underlining the need for “multilateral mechanisms” as “the solution to cyber security problems in the world.”
In May, Jahromi said Iran had developed an indigenous firewall to stop viruses such as Stuxnet, which crippled the country’s nuclear power development activities and allowed Israel to remotely shut down an entire nuclear power
47​ IRAN Country Report​ December 2019 www.intellinews.com