Word: iran
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...were brought down in a single week by a Canadian teenager. They've been a scourge ever since and have even been employed in cyberwarfare. During the war between Russia and Georgia last year, hackers brought down several Georgian websites using a DDoS attack. And in the aftermath of Iran's tumultuous election in June, several international computer networks were trained to take down sites belonging to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...
...June 12, the very fact that protesters are still taking to the streets - as hundreds did on Aug. 3, while Khamenei was formally confirming Ahmadinejad - is, in itself, remarkable. After all, to protest now is to risk a cracked head, or far worse; for all the mixed signals from Iran's top echelons of power, the security forces have exhibited few qualms about doing whatever it takes to quiet the streets, including the imprisoning of an estimated 2,000 opposition supporters. And all those taking to the streets are well aware that a number of detainees have died...
...failure of the regime to quiet the streets and to close ranks behind Khamenei in his endorsement of a second Ahmadinejad term is without precedent in the Islamic Republic's 30-year history. As leading U.S.-based Iran scholar Farideh Farhi told the Council on Foreign Relations, Khamenei and Ahmadinejad had assumed that "if they use a sufficient amount of violence, they can put an end to the popular anger that has been generated. [Instead], they continue to be surprised by the resistance that is being shown - not only by major players in Iranian politics, but the people of Iran...
...swearing-in will have surely reminded Ahmadinejad of the challenge he faces in the Majlis, Iran's elected parliament. The ceremony was addressed by Speaker Ali Larijani, a longstanding conservative rival of Ahmadinejad, who has tried to position himself between the opposition and the government - at times being fiercely critical of the crackdown and demanding a public inquiry, at others distancing himself from the opposition movement and railing against foreign interference. The President requires approval of his Cabinet picks from parliament, and also needs the legislature's cooperation in passing new laws. And he is far from guaranteed the support...
...constitutional contract with the Iranian people, which allows them to democratically choose their President, even if from a limited palate of options - that occurred after June 12 has not been healed. In his second term, Ahmadinejad will have to navigate both the ongoing socioeconomic crisis in Iran, and the international battle of wills over its nuclear program, from a position of diminished political authority and legitimacy. And his domestic political opponents are showing no sign of easing the pressure...