US engineers building 'stealth internet' to bypass government censors
14 Jun 2011
In a bid to bypass foreign government censors, the State Department is funding a $2 million project to create suitcase-housed wireless networks that can anchor a mesh network that includes modified mobile phones and computers, without using telecom towers that can be easily disabled.
These meshes link devices together into a cooperative peer-to-peer network that can collectively transfer data without reliance on central networking equipment. The idea behind the project is to bypass authorities who can restrict information exchange or shut it down altogether.
The stealth internet network could be smuggled into countries such as Syria and Iran to allow dissidents to communicate.
A prototype of the device which looks like a suitcase has been designed in Washington as part of a $70-million State Department programme dedicated to communications systems could give the slip to hostile regimes.
An independent mobile telecommunications network has already been installed in Afghanistan where mobile phones are quite common. Taliban commanders are known to shut down the towers that carry phone and internet signals.
The internet suitcase has been designed by four young State Department contractors, some of them having experience as computer hackers.
