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Haystack (software)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Open Source Guy (talk | contribs) at 20:26, 19 September 2010 (Add citation for Colascione resignation). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Developer(s)Daniel Colascione
Initial release2010
Operating systemWindows, Mac OS X, Linux
TypeAnonymity
LicenseProprietary
Websitehaystacknetwork.com

Haystack is a proprietary network traffic obfuscator and encryptor used to circumvent internet censorship.[1] The BBC's Virtual Revolution television series featured this software in the context of attempts to bypass network blocking software in Iran.[2] The brainchild of Austin Heap, a software developer based in San Francisco, California, it is being developed by the Censorship Research Center in response to internet censorship during the 2009 Iranian election protests.[3][4][5]. Early on in the project, Heap received a manual to Iran's filtering software, written in Persian, from an Iranian official.[6].

Amidst criticism from technologists, including Jacob Appelbaum and Danny O'Brien, on September 13, 2010, the Washington Post reported[7] that security concerns has led to suspension of testing of Haystack. A message on the front page of the Haystack website posted the same day confirmed the report, saying "We have halted ongoing testing of Haystack in Iran pending a security review. If you have a copy of the test program, please refrain from using it." The following day the BBC reported the same news and quoted Austin Heap of the CRC as stating that source code to the application would be released.[8]

Shutdown

As of September 15th, 2010, members of the CRC board have stated that all systems have been powered down and all remaining data will be destroyed.[citation needed] This follows the resignation of the only programmer on the project, Daniel Colascione, effectively ending development of the Haystack project.[9]

References

  1. ^ "haystack: a project for iran". Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  2. ^ "The web makes the personal political". BBC News. 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-02-09.
  3. ^ "Needles in a Haystack". Newsweek. 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  4. ^ "What's monitored online?". Tehran Bureau. 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  5. ^ The Virtual Revolution. BBC. 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  6. ^ William J. Dobson (2010-08-06). "Needles in a Haystack". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  7. ^ Washington Post reports suspension of testing, retrieved September 13, 2010
  8. ^ "Anti-censorship program Haystack withdrawn". BBC News. BBC. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  9. ^ Award-Winning Haystack Security System Could Risk Iranian Lives, retrieved 2010-09-17.
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