By the Intel 471 Global Research Team:
In the last decade, Iran has undergone a quiet revolution. Since the“Green Movement” uprising in 2009, more Iranians have dared to openly oppose their regime. The reasons include accusations of elections tampering, global sanctions, increased inflation, heavy investment of state funds in the nuclear and arming programs, and ambitious regional policies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and others, amid a deteriorating socioeconomic situation of the average Iranian.
There was a lot of talk in the past about Iran’s espionage measures and offensive cyber activities targeting other countries. However, growing domestic unrest prompted the Iranian regime to invest more resources in developing espionage capabilities aimed against its own citizens. Additionally, the regime carried out tough measures against civil uprisings such as cutting off the internet in the country for long periods of time and killing hundreds of protestors.
During the past year, a number of online activists have leaked what they claim to be inside information about the regime’s surveillance methods, in an attempt to expose the unethical tactics used by Iranian security forces.
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