ארגון מעקב אחר רשתות אינטרנט: חברה סינית סייעה לאיראן לגבות אגרות מעבר במצר הורמוז

Global internet monitors say a Chinese internet security firm helped Iranian authorities collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. They say this likely violates U.S. sanctions. Iran's so-called Persian Gulf Straits Authority, or the PGSA, vets ships and then collects tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Now the Treasury Department sanctioned it in May for extorting vessels and providing support for the IRGC. Now NetBlocks, which is a cybersecurity watchdog, it tells Fox News that the PGSA lost its web security credentials after it was sanctioned. Now this made its website difficult to access securely through the standard internet browsers. NetBlocks says a Shanghai-based internet security firm called TrustAsia restored the Iranian agency's web security credentials for about four days in August. This allowed the PGSA to continue collecting tolls. TrustAsia later revoked those credentials. NetBlocks, as well as former U.S. sanctions officials Jeremy Panner, warned that TrustAsia may have violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. The discovery comes amid the Trump administration's Operation Economic Outcast, and that targets Iran's global partners through secondary sanctions.