Scaling China’s Great Firewall Without Falun Gong Help

May 052010
 

The use of proxy servers and portals is a key way to get past government censorship in countries like China and Iran.

One of the most popular is Freegate. But many Chinese netizens are cautious about using it because it was developed by the Falun Gong, the mass movement outlawed in China as an “evil cult.”

Some are wary of the organization for philosophical reasons, while others feel it will draw attention from the authorities.

Alternatives to the Falun Gong sites do exist, however. One worth looking at is SSL VPN (Virtual Private Networks).

For some first-hand experience, try “Dan’s Adventure” — a travel chronicle that details the writer’s use of VPN in China to send secure e-mail, access Web sites, and keep in touch online.

VPN has an advantage in that it doesn’t require the download of software onto the user’s computer.

Witopia is popular and fast though relatively expensive at U.S. $50 – $60 a year.

Hotspot Shield is also popular. And free.

Emailing Securely Amid China’s New Online Secrets Law

Apr 282010
 

China has new laws in the works aimed at cracking down on people who leak sensitive information online.

Sensitive information and state secrets have a broad definition in China, and critics say it could be used as a tool to suppress free speech.

But for those people in China or other countries in which censorship and email interception is a concern, there is a simple way to send information securely.

China has a list of key words that, if they appear in an email, prompt a computer program to intercept the message, not forwarding it to the intended recipient but instead sending it to the authorities.

But the program can intercept email only once it is sent.  If people want to communicate electronically without triggering the eye of the censor there is a simple solution: Instead of each person in a given group having an individual email account, a user could simply create one email account and give everyone the password.

Messages can then be written and saved in the drafts folder. Others with the account password would have access to it, but so long as no one actually hits the send button it will not appear on the censors radar.

This is not going to protect users from spy-ware or trojan-horse programs, but it is an effective method of information exchange on clean computers.

RFA has a comprehensive report on the law Secrets Law To Apply Online.