Iranians Using Tor to Anonymize Web Use

As the Iranian government continues a cat-and-mouse game of limiting or blocking access to social networking sites, instant messaging, cellphone service and the Internet in general, citizens and onlookers keep developing workarounds to help protesters stay online.

One of the tools gaining attention is Tor, an application that makes it difficult for outside parties to monitor a consumer’s Web use. “The idea is similar to using a twisty, hard-to-follow route in order to throw off somebody who is tailing you–and then periodically erasing your footprints,” the site for the Tor Project says. (MIT’s Technology Review has a video of Tor Project’s Roger Dingledine explaining its origins.)

Andrew Lewman, Tor Project’s executive director, told CNET that the organization has seen Tor users with Iranian IP addresses double in recent days.

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