Cyberwarfare in Iran
Cyberwarfare in Iran is a part of Iran's “Soft war” military strategy. Being both a victim and predator of cyberwarfare,[1] Iran is considered an emerging military power in the field.[2]
Since November 2010, an organization called “The Cyber Defense Command” (Persian: قرارگاه دفاع سایبری; Gharargah-e Defa-e Saiberi) has been operating in Iran under the supervision of the country’s “Passive Civil Defense Organization” (Persian: سازمان پدافند غیرعامل; Sazeman-e Padafand-e Gheyr-e Amel) which is itself a subdivision of the Joint Staff of Iranian Armed Forces.[3]
According to a 2014 report by Institute for National Security Studies, Iran is "one of the most active players in the international cyber arena".[4] In 2013, a Revolutionary Guards general stated that Iran has “the 4th biggest cyber power among the world’s cyber armies.”[5]
Contents
Attacks against Iran
In June 2010, Iran was the victim of a cyber attack when its nuclear facility in Natanz was infiltrated by the cyber-worm ‘Stuxnet’.[6] Reportedly a combined effort by the United States and Israel,[7] Stuxnet destroyed perhaps over 1000 nuclear centrifuges and, according to a Business Insider article, "[set] Tehran's atomic programme back by at least two years."[8] The worm spread beyond the plant to allegedly infect over 60,000 computers, but the government of Iran indicates it caused no significant damage. Iran crowdsourced solutions to the worm and is purportedly now better positioned in terms of cyber warfare technology.[6] No government has claimed responsibility for the worm.[8]
Assassination
In October 2013, media reported Mojtaba Ahmadi, who served as commander of the "Cyber War Headquarters" was found dead wounded by bullets in Karaj.[9]
Attacks by Iran
The Iranian government has been accused by western analysts of its own cyber-attacks against the United States, Israel and Persian Gulf Arab countries, but deny this, including specific allegations of 2012 involvement in hacking into American banks.[8] The conflict between Iran and the United States as been called "history’s first known cyber-war" by Michael Joseph Gross mid-2013.[10]
A National Security Agency document leaked by Edward Snowden, reveals that Iranians may have learned from advanced sophisticated cyber-attacks by United States against them.[11]
events
August 2014: An IDF official told press in that Iran has launched numerous significant attacks against Israel’s Internet infrastructure.[12]
31 March 2015: Iranian hackers, possibly Iranian Cyber Army pushed a massive power outage for 12 hours in 44 of 81 provinces of Turkey, holding 40 million people. Istanbul and Ankara were among the places suffering blackout.[13]
See also
- alleged operations and malwares against Iran
- alleged operations and malwares by Iran
References
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- ↑ Silent War July 2013 Vanity Fair
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