Great Firewall

Extracted Attributes

• Term Originator

  Geremie Barmé (1997)

• Operating Agency

  Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC)

• Technical Methods

  Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), DNS filtering, IP blocking, TCP packet keyword checking

• Estimated VPN Cost

  90 USD per year for individual access

• Originating Project

  Golden Shield Project

• International Entry Points

  10 fiber-optic backbone access points

Timeline

• The phrase "Great Firewall of China" is first used in print by Australian sinologist Geremie Barmé. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1997-01-01

• The Chinese government initiates the Golden Shield project to control and monitor the internet. (Source: Web Search (Experte.com))

  1998-01-01

• The Great Firewall is built as a collection of techniques to filter internet traffic. (Source: Web Search (ThousandEyes))

  1999-01-01

• Official launch of internet censorship measures aimed at national security. (Source: Web Search (Experte.com))

  2003-01-01

• Technical operation of the firewall is transferred to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). (Source: Wikipedia)

  2013-01-01

• Seven additional backbone access points are added, bringing the total to ten international entry points. (Source: Web Search (ThousandEyes))

  2015-01-01

• The National Security Law is utilized to block websites documenting anti-government protests in Hong Kong. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2019-01-01

Great Firewall

The Great Firewall (GFW; simplified Chinese: 防火长城; traditional Chinese: 防火長城; pinyin: Fánghuǒ Chángchéng) is the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the People's Republic of China to regulate the Internet domestically. Its role in internet censorship in China is to block access to selected foreign websites and to slow down cross-border internet traffic. The Great Firewall operates by checking transmission control protocol (TCP) packets for keywords or sensitive words. If the keywords or sensitive words appear in the TCP packets, access will be closed. If one link is closed, more links from the same machine will be blocked by the Great Firewall. The effect includes: limiting access to foreign information sources, blocking popular foreign websites (e.g. Google Search, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, and others) and mobile apps, and requiring foreign companies to adapt to domestic regulations. Besides censorship, the Great Firewall has also influenced the development of China's internal internet economy by giving preference to domestic companies and reducing the effectiveness of products from foreign internet companies. The techniques deployed by the Chinese government to maintain control of the Great Firewall can include modifying search results for terms, such as they did following Ai Weiwei's arrest, and petitioning global conglomerates to remove content, as happened when they petitioned Apple to remove the Quartz business news publication's app from its Chinese App Store after reporting on the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. The Great Firewall was formerly operated by the SIIO, as part of the Golden Shield Project. Since 2013, the firewall is technically operated by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), which is the entity in charge of translating the Chinese Communist Party's ideology and policy into technical specifications. As mentioned in the "one country, two systems" principle, China's special administrative regions (SARs)—Hong Kong and Macau—are not affected by the firewall, as SARs have their own governmental and legal systems and therefore enjoy a higher degree of autonomy. Nevertheless, the U.S. State Department has reported that the central government authorities have closely monitored Internet use in these regions, and Hong Kong's National Security Law has been used to block websites documenting anti-government protests. Provincial governments in parts of China, such as Henan Province, run their own versions of the firewall. The term Great Firewall of China is a combination of the word firewall with the Great Wall of China. The phrase "Great Firewall of China" was first used in print by Australian sinologist Geremie Barmé in 1997.

Web Search Results

• Great Firewall - Wikipedia

  The Great Firewall (GFW; simplified Chinese: 防火长城; traditional Chinese: 防火長城; pinyin: Fánghuǒ Chángchéng) is the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by the People's Republic of China to regulate the Internet domestically. Its role in internet censorship in China is to block access to selected foreign websites and to slow down cross-border internet traffic. The Great Firewall operates by checking transmission control protocol (TCP) packets for keywords or sensitive words. If the keywords or sensitive words appear in the TCP packets, access will be closed. If one link is closed, more links from the same machine will be blocked by the Great Firewall. The effect includes: limiting access to foreign information sources, blocking popular foreign websites (e.g. Google [...] The Great Firewall was formerly operated by the SIIO, as part of the Golden Shield Project. Since 2013, the firewall is technically operated by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), which is the entity in charge of translating the Chinese Communist Party's ideology and policy into technical specifications. [...] Besides censorship, the Great Firewall has also influenced the development of China's internal internet economy by giving preference to domestic companies and reducing the effectiveness of products from foreign internet companies. The techniques deployed by the Chinese government to maintain control of the Great Firewall can include modifying search results for terms, such as they did following Ai Weiwei's arrest, and petitioning global conglomerates to remove content, as happened when they petitioned Apple to remove the Quartz "Quartz (publication)") business news publication's app from its Chinese App Store after reporting on the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.

• Great Firewall | History, China, Hong Kong, & Facts | Britannica

  The Great Firewall uses a variety of legislative and technological functions to achieve the goal of Internet control. China’s government has mandated that companies are responsible for their public content; therefore, companies must self-censor their public-facing content to eliminate prohibited topics or obscene material. The content itself is directly monitored by the government or by the government-controlled Internet companies that serve China’s users. Key tactics of Internet control include filtering keywords, blocking select foreign websites and apps, and blocking IP addresses from certain regions. By law, the Great Firewall prevents users from accessing content that may incite political resistance of any kind or would reveal state secrets. Content related to pornography, gambling, [...] Great Firewall, regulatory and technological system of Internet control used by the Chinese government to monitor, filter, or block Internet-based content for users within the country. The Great Firewall was deployed to selectively separate Chinese cyberspace from the outside world and to prevent Chinese citizens from accessing information that the government has deemed detrimental or potentially destabilizing to the country’s interests. ## Development of the Great Firewall [...] The Great Firewall has created a captive market of isolated users in China who are left with no choice but to use the domestic alternatives to the blocked international sites. China effectively has built an Internet within the Internet. In doing so, it has allowed the presence of a number of websites that offer services that mirror those provided by some of the external websites that it has banned. Chinese users have access to WeChat and Weibo for social media and messaging. There are also several music streaming services available in China, including Baidu Yinyue, KuGou, and QQ Music. Moreover, there are China-only video streaming services such as Bilibili and Youku. Baidu, a popular search engine, meets the government’s strict requirements by adjusting its algorithms to censor its

• Deconstructing the Great Firewall of China | ThousandEyes

  In China, the Internet developed with choke points built into it. Virtually all Internet traffic between China and the rest of the world travels through a small number of fiber-optic cables that enter the country at one of ten different backbone access points, seven of which had only been added in January 2015. A limited number of international entry points, coupled with the fact that all Internet service providers in China are licensed and controlled by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, mean that Chinese authorities can analyze and manipulate Internet traffic much more easily than, say, the United States. Built in 1999, the Great Firewall is the blanket term for the collection of techniques used to filter traffic in China. However, it’s a bit of a misnomer since not [...] For all its sophistication, the Great Firewall still has its shortcomings. The keyword filtering method can suffer from overblocking — for instance, because the names of party leaders (like Hu, Xi and Wen) are often sensitive keywords, Chinese terms like xue xi (study), hu luo bo (carrot), and wen du ji (thermometer) are also likely to be banned. [...] Judging by the work of researchers and recent events, it’s clear that DNS-based censorship has evolved into a powerful tool that can have significant repercussions even outside China’s borders. But we’re not done yet — at the heart of the Great Firewall is deep packet inspection. Deep packet inspection and keyword filtering Most content inspection schemes work by passing all traffic through a proxy that refuses to serve results for forbidden material. However, a proxy-based system that can cope with the traffic volumes of a major network, or an entire country, would be extremely expensive and difficult to scale.

• The Great Firewall of China: What It Is and How to Get Around It

  The “Great Firewall of China” is not just a piece of software—it’s the sum of all Internet censorship measures in China. These are omnipresent for private individuals and companies alike. In the past, companies (foreign ones in particular) enjoyed more freedom and were able to bypass censorship with relative ease. However, in recent years, accessing the free Internet has become increasingly problematic, even for non-Chinese entities. [...] EXPERTE.com IT Security Tools # The Great Firewall of China: What It Is and How to Get Around It Silvia BenettiTranslation Lisa Torelli-Sauer The Chinese government started its campaign to control the internet as early as 1998 with the “Golden Shield” project. In 2003, the first measures officially aimed at 'national security' were launched. However, it’s indisputable that the main goal of these is to censor content that the Communist Party deems undesirable. So, how does the so-called “Great Firewall” work? And more importantly, what can you do to circumvent it? [...] | VPN | Tor | Proxy | --- | Security | High | High | Average | | Anonymity | High | High | Low | | Financial cost | Low | None | Low/none | | Encryption | Highly effective for all data | Only between the client and entry relay | Only among certain providers | | Speed | Average/high | Low | Very high | | Success in bypassing censorship | Depends on the provider | Mixed | High | ## Conclusion The Great Firewall of China censors sites that the Chinese government deems undesirable by blocking IP addresses and monitoring traffic. VPN services and proxies redirect traffic to foreign servers before it reaches its destination. Theoretically, this can circumvent censorship, however, VPN providers themselves have also recently experienced difficulties in the PRC.

• I was visiting China recently (my first time there). I thought bypassing ...

  China became the second most powerful economy, and which will become the most powerful economy within a decade or so. Of course they're going to have the military to go with that: | | | | | | nly on Aug 22, 2015 | root | parent | next (javascript:void(0)) The great firewall is a cowardly, non-confrontational technical infrastructure. I don't see China using a multi-billion$ missile system to shoot down a harmless foreign communications satellite that also served people outside of China. They're smarter than that. | | | | | | melling on Aug 22, 2015 | root | parent | next (javascript:void(0)) You have no idea what you're talking about: | | | | | | ColinWright on Aug 22, 2015 | parent | prev | next (javascript:void(0)) ... usage of which would be detected, and the users [...] afford US$1000 per month? I'm assuming only medium-large businesses, so do they divide up these "international lines" among their employees or something? Can these employees also use these lines at home, or only in the office? | | | | | | wogong on Aug 22, 2015 | root | parent | next (javascript:void(0)) It's for business of course, mainly international companies I guess. Local companies don't need to cross the firewall. Employees can only use these lines in the office. Actually most Chinese are not aware of the existence of the Great Firewall (GFW), really bad. | | | | | | sdm on Aug 22, 2015 | root | parent | next (javascript:void(0)) In the tech field, everyone is very very aware. I can't speak about other fields though. In my experience, pretty much anyone who is middle [...] | | | | | halfelf on Aug 22, 2015 | parent | prev | next (javascript:void(0)) Working in such network 24/7/365 means I have to spend about $90 per year on my vpn service, and keep vpn connection all the time when working. (otherwise google and SO will not come to save me from problems.) | | | | | | rahimnathwani on Aug 23, 2015 | parent | prev | next (javascript:void(0)) Were your DNS queries going over SOCKS? | | | | | | berkut on Aug 22, 2015 | prev | next (javascript:void(0)) Back in 2006/2007 when I was doing web development, I knew a few people at F5 and Zeus Technology (developers of application firewalls at the time), and they said The Great Firewall was using loads of F5 tech with deep packet inspection for all data. I assume 9 years later (don't know what the

• Country

  People's Republic of China

• Instance Of

  Q80998