Iranian Telecommunications Minister Reza Taghipour announced on August 5 that Iran would migrate some of its critical infrastructure and several sensitive ministries off the internet . . . Taghipour explained that this was an important move since Tehran intends to build its own domestic intranet system . . . Iran is supposedly building an indigenous “national intelligence network” in hopes of preventing foreign powers from accessing state secrets through the internet . . . a new national intranet system is projected to be completed in 18 months . . . Tehran’s effort is likely both an effort to crack down on opposition groups and in response to alleged Western cyber attacks such as the Stuxnet virus that reportedly caused significant damage to Iran’s nuclear program . . . while disconnecting from the internet will reduce some vulnerabilities, as LIGNET explained in an analysis last month, cyber attacks against closed computer networks can also be implanted via USB drives rather than through the internet . . . Tehran continues to stifle dissent within the nation and clamp down on political activists who use the internet to coordinate and disseminate information . . . the construction of a domestic intranet is likely a means to tighten control, enhance censorship and track opposition forces.