yahoo news reports that a “retaliatory digital attack against a group of Iranian spies” was carried out last Thursday. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Associated Press all confirmed the report with their own sources, including the additional detail that the cyberattack was approved by President Donald Trump. It was the same day that Trump called off airstrikes against Iranian targets.
The target of the attacks was an “intelligence group” that has ties to or is part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, depending on the report you read. That group had been connected to the recent attacks on commercial ships in the region, according to yahoo news. the Send It says the attack was “paralyzing Iran’s military command and control systems” but did not cause any loss of life. the Times Reports that Iranian missile control systems were also hit.
The US cyber attacks were launched by the US Cyber Command and Times reports that “they had been planned for several weeks” and were intended as a response to both the attacks on tankers and the recent crash of a US drone.
This is not the first time the US has been involved in a cyberattack against Iranian assets. It is believed that it helped develop the Stuxnet worm that attacked nuclear centrifuges in Iran. And in 2016, the US was reported to have created a plan called “Nitro Zeus” that could have been used against Iran’s infrastructure, although the plans were shelved.
The extent of this week’s cyberattacks and their effectiveness are not yet fully known, but there may be more such conflicts. the Wall street journal Detailed concerns recently raised by security companies that Iran had already begun to intensify its hacking attempts on US targets. The Department of Homeland Security warned of a “recent increase in malicious cyber activity targeting US government agencies and industries by actors and representatives of the Iranian regime.”
Even if Iran does not respond to cyberattacks, it seems likely that tensions will continue to rise. Mr Trump said today that he intends to impose “additional major sanctions against Iran on Monday.”
