The Central Bank of Iran suffered a major cyberattack on Wednesday. Other Iranian banks also were targeted.
According to an article in the Saudi-affiliated Iran International, a massive cyberattack targeted the Central Bank of Iran on Wednesday.
The banking system in the Islamic Republic was also severely disrupted. According to reports, this is one of the biggest hacks in the country’s history.
Reports claim that hackers stole data belonging to account holders of Iran’s largest banks, among others.
The announcement comes after Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, stressed that it was a religious obligation to strike back at Israel. Tehran accuses Israel of assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July.
It’s a fun fact: the hackers or someone who works with them is in Iran.
Iran boasted about Israel’s weak capabilities, but the cyberattack that hasn’t been claimed by anyone shows the vulnerability of the regime.
Anonymous activists placed notes on ATMs mocking the regime. The message said: “Dear Customers,” it read. “It is not possible for you to withdraw money because the entire budget of Iran and all national resources are invested in the war, which benefits the corrupt regime of the Islamic Republic.”
No nation or group, as of the date this article was written, has claimed responsibility for these attacks, but we can certainly guess.
The largest cyberattack on Iran has been since December 2023 when a group backed by Israel called “Gonjeshke Darande”, (Predatory Sparrow), targeted the fuel infrastructure of the Islamic Republic, paralyzing 70% of petrol stations in Iran. The group released a press release warning Iran not to continue its aggressions. Iran doesn’t seem to have taken any of these warnings seriously.
(1/2) We, Gonjeshke Darande, carried out another cyberattack today, taking out a majority of the gas pumps throughout Iran. This cyberattack comes in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region.
Khamenei, playing with fire has a price.
— Gonjeshke Darande (@darandegonjeshk) December 18, 2023
Other cyber-attacks have been launched by “Predatory Sparrow”, including one in 2022 that resulted in a large fire at a steel mill. The group has yet to make a statement regarding this latest attack against Iran’s Banking System.
In any future conflict cyber warfare will be a primary battlefield. This incident and those that preceded show us how a cyberwarfare attack could bring down the infrastructure of a nation, from its banking sector to its heavy industry, and, possibly, even the electrical grid.
