FilteredWeb: A Framework for the Automated Search-Based Discovery of Blocked URLs

Various methods have been proposed for creating and maintaining lists of potentially filtered URLs to allow for measurement of ongoing internet censorship around the world. Whilst testing a known resource for evidence of filtering can be relatively simple, given appropriate vantage points, discovering previously unknown filtered web resources remains an open challenge. We present a new framework for automating the process of discovering filtered resources through the use of adaptive queries to well-known search engines. Our system applies information retrieval algorithms to isolate characteristic linguistic patterns in known filtered web pages; these are then used as the basis for web search queries. The results of these queries are then checked for evidence of filtering, and newly discovered filtered resources are fed back into the system to detect further filtered content. Our implementation of this framework, applied to China as a case study, shows that this approach is demonstrably effective at detecting significant numbers of previously unknown filtered web pages, making a significant contribution to the ongoing detection of internet filtering as it develops. Our tool is currently deployed and has been used to discover 1355 domains that are poisoned within China as of Feb 2017 - 30 times more than are contained in the most widely-used public filter list. Of these, 759 are outside of the Alexa Top 1000 domains list, demonstrating the capability of this framework to find more obscure filtered content. Further, our initial analysis of filtered URLs, and the search terms that were used to discover them, gives further insight into the nature of the content currently being blocked in China.Comment: To appear in "Network Traffic Measurement and Analysis Conference 2017" (TMA2017

Encore: Lightweight Measurement of Web Censorship with Cross-Origin Requests

Despite the pervasiveness of Internet censorship, we have scant data on its extent, mechanisms, and evolution. Measuring censorship is challenging: it requires continual measurement of reachability to many target sites from diverse vantage points. Amassing suitable vantage points for longitudinal measurement is difficult; existing systems have achieved only small, short-lived deployments. We observe, however, that most Internet users access content via Web browsers, and the very nature of Web site design allows browsers to make requests to domains with different origins than the main Web page. We present Encore, a system that harnesses cross-origin requests to measure Web filtering from a diverse set of vantage points without requiring users to install custom software, enabling longitudinal measurements from many vantage points. We explain how Encore induces Web clients to perform cross-origin requests that measure Web filtering, design a distributed platform for scheduling and collecting these measurements, show the feasibility of a global-scale deployment with a pilot study and an analysis of potentially censored Web content, identify several cases of filtering in six months of measurements, and discuss ethical concerns that would arise with widespread deployment

Comparison of different ways to avoid internet traffic interception

Projecte fet en col.laboració amb la Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Department of Telematic EngineeringEnglish: The main objective of this thesis is to analyze and compare different ways to avoid the Internet traffic eavesdropping (carried out both by governments or malicious particulars). The analysis consists on a description of the different protocols and technologies involved in each option as well as the difficulties to implement them and the technical knowledge of the users in order to take profit of them

Sociedade de controle: tecno-vigilância de Estado e resistência civil no México

The aim of this article is to discuss the global and local implications of State surveillance in the light of the theoretical approach around control societies. We hold that the systematic, continuous and total techno-surveillance is an undeniable fact that promotes and requires multivaried forms of civil resistance. To demonstrate our position, we conducted a brief count of the actions undertaken by the Mexican civil society against the laws that promote the use of technology as a monitoring tool in Mexico, and the presence of spyware in Mexican operators. Finally, we present the consequences of techno-surveillance for journalists, activists and human rights advocates. This article concludes that monitoring practices in control societies are implemented by means of socio-technical mechanisms which articulate the public with the private sphere and are carried out with the civilian consent. However, various forms of civic resistance emerge in the continuity of the private and the public, the virtual and the physical, the local and the global.Este trabajo discute las implicaciones de la vigilancia de Estado a escala global y local a la luz de los planteamientos teóricos sobre las sociedades de control. Sostenemos que la tecno- vigilancia sistemática, permanente y total constituye un hecho innegable que promueve y requiere formas de resistencia civil multivariadas. Para ilustrar nuestro argumento, realizamos un breve recuento de las acciones emprendidas por la sociedad civil mexicana frente leyes que promueven el uso de la tecnología como instrumento de vigilancia en México, la presencia de software espía en los servidores de empresas de telecomunicaciones, y la censura. Por último, presentamos las consecuencias de la tecno-vigilancia en el caso de periodistas, activistas y defensores de derechos humanos. El artículo concluye que los procesos de vigilancia en las sociedades de control se materializan a través de mecanismos socio-técnicos que articulan la esfera pública con la privada, que se realizan con el consentimiento de los sujetos. Sin embargo, esta condición también desencadena formas de resistencia que se manifiestan en la continuidad de lo privado y lo público, lo virtual y lo físico, lo local y lo global.Este trabalho discute as implicações da vigilância de Estado em escala global e local sob a luz dos argumentos teóricos a respeito das sociedades de controle. Sustentamos que a tecno-vigilância sistemática, permanente e total constitui um fato inegável que promove e requer formas de resistência civil multivariadas. Para ilustrar nosso argumento, realizamos um breve encontro das ações empreendidas pela sociedade civil mexicana diante das leis que promovem o uso da tecnologia como ferramenta de vigilância, o uso de softwares espiões nos servidores de empresas de telecomunicações e a censura. Por último, apresentamos as conseqüências da tecnovigilância no caso de jornalistas, ativistas e defensores de direitos humanos. O artigo conclui que os processos de vigilância na sociedade de controle se materializam através de mecanismos sócio-técnicos que articulam a esfera pública com a esfera privada, efetuando-se sem o consentimento dos sujeitos. Entretanto, esta condição também desencadeia formas de resistência que se manifestam na continuidade do privado e do público, do virtual e do físico,do local e do global

Monitoring Internet censorship: the case of UBICA

As a consequence of the recent debate about restrictions in the access to content on the Internet, a strong motivation has arisen for censorship monitoring: an independent, publicly available and global watch on Internet censorship activities is a necessary goal to be pursued in order to guard citizens' right of access to information. Several techniques to enforce censorship on the Internet are known in literature, differing in terms of transparency towards the user, selectivity in blocking specific resources or whole groups of services, collateral effects outside the administrative borders of their intended application. Monitoring censorship is also complicated by the dynamic nature of multiple aspects of this phenomenon, the number and diversity of resources targeted by censorship and its global scale. In the present Thesis an analysis of literature on internet censorship and available solutions for censorship detection has been performed, characterizing censorship enforcement techniques and censorship detection techniques and tools. The available platforms and tools for censorship detection have been found falling short of providing a comprehensive monitoring platform able to manage a diverse set of measurement vantage points and a reporting interface continuously updated with the results of automated censorship analysis. The candidate proposes a design of such a platform, UBICA, along with a prototypical implementation whose effectiveness has been experimentally validated in global monitoring campaigns. The results of the validation are discussed, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed design and suggesting future enhancements and research

Fra nøling og epistemologisk tvil til litterær ontologi : En analyse av utviklingen innen fantastisk litteratur, og av forståelsen av den

Mitt hovedanliggende i arbeidet med denne oppgaven er å undersøke vilkårene for, utviklingen av og funksjonen til fantastisk litteratur, fra den formen som Tzvetan Todorov hevdet at den hadde i sin gullalder på 1800-tallet og vel inn i postmodernismen. Jeg støtter meg hovedsaklig til fire litteraturteoretikere: Tzvetan Todorov, Kathryn Hume, Brian McHale og Lance Olsen, og teorien bringer jeg i dialog med tre skjønnlitterære verk: Robert Louis Stevensons Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), Italo Calvinos Il barone rampante (1957) og Tor Åge Bringsværds Den som har begge beina på jorda står stille (1974). Gjennom en lesning av disse tekstene utforsker jeg en linje i utviklingen av det fantastiske i litteraturen fra det Todorov opptegnet grensene for og funksjonene til i sin sjangerpoetikk. Det fantastiske i denne 1800-tallslitteraturen, hos meg eksemplifisert gjennom Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, hadde et realistisk utgangspunkt med en mimetisk intensjon. På bakgrunn av denne realismen oppstod det, ifølge Todorov, en nøling når det overnaturlige i litteraturen inntraff. Fra dette undersøker jeg det fantastiske hos Calvino i Il barone rampante, som i modernismen styres av en epistemologisk dominant og som gir utslag i en mer distansert form for tvil, heller enn todorovsk nøling. Til sist gir jeg en analyse av det fantastiske i postmodernismen via en lesning av Bringsværds tekst, og her vil jeg belyse hvordan nettopp postmodernismen har endret premissene for og funksjonen til det fantastiske i litteraturen

Empowering bystanders to facilitate Internet censorship measurement and circumvention

Free and open exchange of information on the Internet is at risk: more than 60 countries practice some form of Internet censorship, and both the number of countries practicing censorship and the proportion of Internet users who are subject to it are on the rise. Understanding and mitigating these threats to Internet freedom is a continuous technological arms race with many of the most influential governments and corporations. By its very nature, Internet censorship varies drastically from region to region, which has impeded nearly all efforts to observe and fight it on a global scale. Researchers and developers in one country may find it very difficult to study censorship in another; this is particularly true for those in North America and Europe attempting to study notoriously pervasive censorship in Asia and the Middle East. This dissertation develops techniques and systems that empower users in one country, or bystanders, to assist in the measurement and circumvention of Internet censorship in another. Our work builds from the observation that there are people everywhere who are willing to help us if only they knew how. First, we develop Encore, which allows webmasters to help study Web censorship by collecting measurements from their sites' visitors. Encore leverages weaknesses in cross-origin security policy to collect measurements from a far more diverse set of vantage points than previously possible. Second, we build Collage, a technique that uses the pervasiveness and scalability of user-generated content to disseminate censored content. Collage's novel communication model is robust against censorship that is significantly more powerful than governments use today. Together, Encore and Collage help people everywhere study and circumvent Internet censorship.Ph.D

Cimarron News Citizen, 07-30-1914

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cnc_news/1053/thumbnail.jp