Since tensions escalated in **Iran**, Iranian citizens have faced a climate of fear and uncertainty, exacerbated by internet shutdowns. In response, a group of Iranian digital rights activists and volunteers has been working on **Mahsa Alert**, a mapping platform designed to provide crucial information to those affected. **Mahsa Alert: A Digital Lifeline** The project, led by **Ahmad Ahmadian**, the president and CEO of US-based digital rights group **Holistic Resilience**, aims to provide real-time alerts and offline mapping capabilities. The platform sends push notifications about potential attacks, details confirmed strike locations, and offers offline mapping functionalities. "There is no emergency alert in Iran," says **Ahmadian**. "This was where we saw the traction, we saw the need, and we continued working on it with the volunteers, with some [open source intelligence] experts, and used this to map the repression machinery ecosystem of Iran and surveillance." **Technical Details and Offline Functionality** **Mahsa Alert** is available as a website and as **Android** and **iOS** apps. The apps are designed to be lightweight and easy to use, prioritizing offline functionality due to government connectivity control and erratic internet access. Updates are kept small, around 60-100 kilobytes, and are distributed as APK files. **Features and Verification Process** The platform plots locations of confirmed attacks, verified by **Ahmadian**'s team using video footage and images submitted via a **Telegram** bot or shared on social media. It also highlights danger zones, such as sites linked to Iran’s nuclear program or military, and includes locations of CCTV cameras, government checkpoints, medical facilities, and religious sites. "We have to go through a due diligence and verification process and tag them before putting them on the map," **Ahmadian** explains, noting a backlog of over 3,000 reports. The team claims that 90 percent of confirmed attacks occurred at sites already mapped on the platform. **Growing User Base and Impact** **Mahsa Alert** has gained visibility on social media, with Iranians sharing details from the map. The app has seen a surge in users, jumping from near zero to over 100,000 daily active users, with approximately 335,000 users this year. **Ahmadian** claims that around 28 percent of users are accessing the platform from inside **Iran**. **Background and Motivation** **Mahsa Alert** is named after **Mahsa Amini**, whose death in police custody in 2022 sparked widespread protests. The platform addresses the lack of trusted information sources in **Iran** due to government control over digital connectivity and media. **Challenges and Threats** Since its launch, **Mahsa Alert** has faced distributed denial-of-service attacks. A recent security report detailed an attempt to poison its domain name. Multiple copycat domains have also been identified.