Formatting code for WebFilterUAE
=====Web filtering in the UAE=====
===Some random observations===
- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship#United_Arab_Emirates Wikipedia]] claims that filtering is done using a [[http://www.securecomputing.com/ SecureComputing]] solution however I doubt this is (still) the case.
- From what I found our I rather think the UAE is using [[http://www.bluecoat.com/ Bluecoat]] for webfiltering with block list from [[http://www.websense.com Websense]].
- I understood from a friend of a friend that this was implemented in conjunction with a team in Canada
- URL keyword filtering does not seem to be in place
====Blocked sites====
Just the obvious ones:
++- Flickr.com (for some reason the US army photostream is NOT blocked [[http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ The U.S. Army's photostream]]). Could it be because [[http://www.websense.com WebSense]] has a special deal with the US Army?!++
- [[http://news.ycombinator.com Hacker News Ycombinator]] was blocked at some point in time but this was reverted about a week or two later
- Not all Israeli sites are blocked. Quite a few are not, including [[http://www.petri.co.il/ Petri's site]], much to the rejoice of windows sys admins everywhere
- Some Wikipedia pages are blocked
- The webpage for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinitrotoluene TNT]]. Oddly enough only the English version is blocked. You can still read the article in other languages, including Arabic and Urdu. The page for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite Dynamite]] is not blocked, even in English
- Another one blocked is wikipedia's page about [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision Circumcision]]. No idea why, but again, only the English version is blocked
- [[http://www.opera.com/mobile/ Opera mini]] does its rendering on Opera servers in Norway, effectively acting as filter-circumventing proxies. This used to be a long standing hole in the filtering system allowing people to browse outside the filter from their mobile devices (mainly Blackberry). This hole was plugged in early 2010. Opera mini can only work if rendering is done on Opera servers so the application no longer works in the UAE.
- [[http://www.hn-books.com/ Hacker News Books]] -- This is a website with book reviews. It is unclear why it's blocked. Maybe someone didn't agree with the review.
Update 27.09.2010: flickr.com no longer blocked
----
[[CategoryAbuDhabi]]
[[CategorySecurity]]
[[CategoryNotes]]
===Some random observations===
- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship#United_Arab_Emirates Wikipedia]] claims that filtering is done using a [[http://www.securecomputing.com/ SecureComputing]] solution however I doubt this is (still) the case.
- From what I found our I rather think the UAE is using [[http://www.bluecoat.com/ Bluecoat]] for webfiltering with block list from [[http://www.websense.com Websense]].
- I understood from a friend of a friend that this was implemented in conjunction with a team in Canada
- URL keyword filtering does not seem to be in place
====Blocked sites====
Just the obvious ones:
++- Flickr.com (for some reason the US army photostream is NOT blocked [[http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ The U.S. Army's photostream]]). Could it be because [[http://www.websense.com WebSense]] has a special deal with the US Army?!++
- [[http://news.ycombinator.com Hacker News Ycombinator]] was blocked at some point in time but this was reverted about a week or two later
- Not all Israeli sites are blocked. Quite a few are not, including [[http://www.petri.co.il/ Petri's site]], much to the rejoice of windows sys admins everywhere
- Some Wikipedia pages are blocked
- The webpage for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinitrotoluene TNT]]. Oddly enough only the English version is blocked. You can still read the article in other languages, including Arabic and Urdu. The page for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite Dynamite]] is not blocked, even in English
- Another one blocked is wikipedia's page about [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision Circumcision]]. No idea why, but again, only the English version is blocked
- [[http://www.opera.com/mobile/ Opera mini]] does its rendering on Opera servers in Norway, effectively acting as filter-circumventing proxies. This used to be a long standing hole in the filtering system allowing people to browse outside the filter from their mobile devices (mainly Blackberry). This hole was plugged in early 2010. Opera mini can only work if rendering is done on Opera servers so the application no longer works in the UAE.
- [[http://www.hn-books.com/ Hacker News Books]] -- This is a website with book reviews. It is unclear why it's blocked. Maybe someone didn't agree with the review.
Update 27.09.2010: flickr.com no longer blocked
----
[[CategoryAbuDhabi]]
[[CategorySecurity]]
[[CategoryNotes]]
