Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Egypt in turmoil: Computerworld's complete coverage from a tech perspective

The latest news from the crisis in Egypt Egypt RSS

Google offers voice-tweeting service for Egyptians
SayNow may be better known for helping the Jonas Brothers and the NBA leave short voicemail messages for their fans, but on Monday it found another purpose: helping Egyptians communicate with the rest of the world.

Egypt goes dark as last Internet company pulls the plug
Four days after the Egyptian government ordered Internet service providers to disconnect from the Internet, the country's last working Internet company has abruptly vanished from cyberspace.

Vodafone says it had to cut mobile service in Egypt
Vodafone made it clear to a world watching deadly protests in Egypt that no matter how sophisticated and secure a privately-run communications network may be, it is still under the government's thumb.

Mobile phone service restored in Egypt
Vodafone and France Telecom say mobile phone service was restored in Egypt on Saturday as demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak's government continued across the country on Monday.

Microsoft shifts some work out of Egypt
Microsoft, one of the companies located in Cairo's Smart Villages hi-tech office park, has begun shifting work to other locations in the wake of the on-going unrest in Egypt.

Without Internet, Egyptians find new ways to get online
Despite the government having shut down most of the Internet, people around the world are offering dial-up modem numbers and other primitive tools for people in Egypt.

How Egypt pulled its Internet plug
To sever its link with the outside digital world, Egypt "raised the drawbridge" in mere minutes by forcing the country's providers to make simple changes to their routers, experts said on Friday.

Egypt's 'Net shutdown a wakeup call for CIOs
Reading the news of Egypt's Internet crackdown, CIOs around the world may be wondering how their companies would fare if such a situation happened in their home countries.

Secy. Clinton wants end to 'Net blackout in Egypt
Political leaders are raising concerns about the Egyptian government's blocking of the Internet in response to unrest.

Anatomy of an Internet blackout
The shutdown of Egypt's ties to the rest of the global Internet was not announced by the government -- instead, 3,500 Internet routes suddenly vanished, with more continuing to wink out, leaving network operators in North America to wonder what exactly had happened and what the ripple effects might be.

Egypt's Internet block aims at social media
Through its broad attempt to shut down Internet communications, Egypt's government has not only successfully blocked Twitter but also significantly limited access to Facebook, Yahoo and Google, as it scrambles to squelch political unrest.

Egypt's tech workers stay home as turmoil spreads
The growing anti-government protests in Egypt are disrupting the growing tech industry in the country, according to a tech executive in the country.

Egypt unrest threatens status as rising outsourcing star
What happens if the country you outsource to suddenly goes dark? Early adopters of Egyptian IT and business process services are finding out.

Egypt's 'Net blockage an 'Armageddon approach'
The Internet blockade imposed by the Egyptian government following civil unrest is unprecedented, both in its nature and scope, according to network monitoring firms.

With wired Internet locked, Egypt looks to the sky
The Egyptian government continued an unprecedented block on Internet traffic and mobile communications providers today following demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarek.

Vodafone, others ordered to stop cell phone service in Egypt
Vodafone Group has shut down cell phone service in Egypt after being ordered to do so by the government, which is under siege by protesters.

With protests growing, Egypt cuts links to Internet
As protesters continue to clash with police in anti-government demonstrations, Egypt has pulled the plug on the Internet.

Egypt's move to block Twitter a sign of social media influence
The Egyptian governments move to shut down access to Twitter in the country indicates how powerful social media can be as a protest tool.

Twitter blocked in Egypt after political unrest
Twitter was blocked in Egypt on Tuesday as the country witnessed a large protest against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Our bloggers on the Egypt crisis Android blog RSS

Protests in Egypt challenge assumptions about social media influence

The unprecedent Internet clampdown in Egypt appears to have done little so far to stymie the protests in the country.

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Get Internet access when your government shuts it down

Does your government have an Internet kill-switch? Read our guide to Guerrilla Networking and be prepared for when the lines get cut.

read more

Egypt: You can’t Tweet if there’s no Internet.

The Internet shut down in Egypt shows how trivial it can be to neutralize Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and a whole lot else besides.

read more



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Egypt goes dark as last Internet company pulls the plug

IDG News Service - Egypt is now off the grid.

Four days after the Egyptian government ordered Internet service providers to disconnect from the Internet, the country's last working Internet company has abruptly vanished from cyberspace.

Noor Group, a small service provider that hosted Internet connections for the country's stock exchange and other businesses, became completely unreachable at around 10:46 p.m. Cairo time (Eastern European Time), according to Earl Zmijewski, general manager with Internet monitoring company Renesys.

"It looks like they're completely lights-out now," he said in an interview.

Renesys operates a network monitoring system that can track how connected Egypt is to the rest of the Internet. Before it disappeared, Noor was the last company running data in and out of the country, Zmijewski said. Now e-mail, Web traffic and other Internet services are unable to reach any network in the country, he said.

Other Internet observers reported Noor's disappearance too on Monday.

Thought to handle only about 8 percent of the county's Internet connections, Noor had served as a critical lifeline to the country since the government had ordered service cut early Friday morning.

Nobody is sure how Noor was able to keep operating, even as larger ISPs such as Vodafone and Telecom Egypt voluntarily cut their Egyptian networks off from the rest of the world.

As protesters in Egypt continue to march in the streets, the government has apparently ordered the country cut off from the Internet in an effort to prevent information from getting in or out of the country. Protesters had been using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to organize themselves.

Even with the Internet restrictions, Egyptians had been finding ways to connect with the outside world. After being cut off late last week, mobile-phone service is now working again. And landline telephone service has been operational throughout the crisis.

Robert McMillan covers computer security and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Robert on Twitter at @bobmcmillan. Robert's e-mail address is robert_mcmillan@idg.com

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2010 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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