Technical analysis

Last year, ahead of International Women’s Day March, one of the activists and organizers of the March in Baku had her Facebook, Gmail, Protonmail, and Telegram accounts compromised. At the time, Gulnara Mehdiyeva reported that a hacker who got access to her Gmail account, downloaded her achieve of documents and photographs some of which were […]

In its most recent measurement report, the Open Observatory of Network Interference [OONI] concludes that “while social media censorship in Azerbaijan appears to have been lifted, the media censorship remains.” These and other findings are based on the recent measurement report produced in partnership with OONI.  Here are some highlights. Blocked websites The news websites […]

Azerbaijan ranked among the top countries where VPN services were in high demand last year between September and November during the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to Proprivacy and NordVPN research “global events in 2020 have caused surges in VPN demand, as citizens from Belarus to Hong Kong set out to secure their […]

On September 27, the government in Azerbaijan introduced a series of restrictions on Internet access as a result of military operations in Nagorno Karabakh. Users in Azerbaijan were left with limited Internet access while access to a number of social media platforms, as well as communication apps, were restricted.  Azerbaijan Internet Watch, and OONI collected […]

In August, when people in Belarus took the streets across the country in protest of election results where incumbent President Lukashenka secured yet another victory in a contested presidential election, authorities deliberately cut the internet. Quickly, experts concluded DPI technology may be in use. By the end of August, it was reported that this DPI […]

[UPDATE] On November 12, access to the Internet was finally restored across the country in Azerbaijan. This was shared in an announcement shared by the Ministry of Communication, Transportation and High Technologies on November 11. In a statement, the Ministry said: The temporary restriction on Internet access imposed in our country in order to prevent […]

In July, authorities in Azerbaijan released it’s very own COVID tracing tracker application. Launched by Tebib (Azerbaijan Administration of Regional Medical Division) the app was quick to draw attention, especially over its privacy issues.  e-Tebib is just one of the deluge of apps that have been unveiled in recent months by various governments, promising to […]

[UPDATE] September 4, in an interview with independent Turan News Agency, Ali Karimli confirmed that he remains cut off the internet. His cellular signal also stops functioning after 8 pm every day.  August 6, Baku Court of Appeal rejected to evaluate opposition party leader Ali Karimli and his wife, Samara Seyidova’s complaint against the Ministry of the […]

On January 14, Azerbaijan Internet Watch reported a mass phishing attack that lasted for about a week. At the time of the report, it was possible to identify that the attacks were coming from an IP registered to the Ministry of the Interior. Almost a month later, the Qurium media foundation continues its investigation into […]

On 10 March 2017, a bill of amendments to the laws on “Information, Informatisation and Protection of Information” and “Telecommunications” was put up for discussion at a plenary meeting of Milli Meclis (Parliament) and was unanimously adopted. Here is a breakdown of what these new amendments mean: New Article 13-1 of the law “on telecommunication” […]