[IsraelTimes] This year, the Islamic Republic set a new benchmark for its cyber strategy, which extends far beyond the battlefield to include influence operations and intelligence gathering.
Iranian cyberattacks on Israel have surged in the wake of the October 7 onslaught by the Iran-backed terror group Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
, and as the Israel-Hamas war continues to rage, cybersecurity analysts warn these digital incursions will continue regardless of any ceasefire or de-escalation in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response ...
Strip.
Meanwhile,
...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment...
with Israel-Hamas negotiations stalled, Tehran’s hackers, backed by the regime, are further honing their capabilities in what experts say could become a forever war in cyberspace.
Despite efforts to tamp down the flames of war, experts told The Times of Israel, any calming of hostilities will not stop digital conflict between the two nations.
"I don’t think [Iran] is going to be happy with Israel, even in the case of a ceasefire or some sort of improvement in conditions" in Gaza, said Ben Read, who heads cyberespionage analysis at Mandiant, a Google-owned cybersecurity firm.
Iran’s cyber capabilities have become a key element of its broader strategy to defend national interests, deter Western intelligence, and engage in espionage, said John Fokker, who leads threat intelligence at cybersecurity company Trellix. Under the auspices of a branch of the armed forces and a government ministry, Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
has steadily expanded its offensive cyber programs, he said.
Since the Hamas-led October 7 massacre, Iranian operatives and cybercrime groups aligned with the Khamenei regime have escalated their cyberattacks on Israeli government and private sector infrastructure. In retaliation, suspected Israeli-aligned hackers have launched their own cyber offensives, targeting Iranian critical infrastructure, including gas stations.
Iran’s cyberwarfare capabilities have long been in development. In 2012, its "Shamoon" virus crippled 30,000 computers at Saudi Aramco in one of Iran’s most notorious attacks. More recently, in 2020, its hackers targeted Gilead Sciences to steal COVID vaccine research. In 2019, the regime’s cyber operatives carried out a wave of attacks on American cities and airports, highlighting the regime’s ability to disrupt critical infrastructure, Fokker noted.
"These incidents reflect the rapid advancement of Iran’s cyber capabilities, making it a significant threat," Fokker told The Times of Israel.
Now, amid the Gaza conflict, Iranian hackers have targeted Israeli assets more aggressively. In November, the Iran-linked "Cyber Av3ngers" hacking group grabbed credit for breaching industrial water treatment equipment in America. Tehran is in the global public eye again for cyberwarfare after the US intelligence community said its hackers targeted the Donald Trump
...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down...
and Kamala Harris
So Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, that’s wrong
presidential campaigns.
James Shires, a technology and global affairs expert who co-directs the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative, said much of Tehran’s work has been centered on influence operations. Iran’s state-sponsored actors have been amplifying propaganda, spreading disinformation and manipulating social media narratives as part of their broader cyber strategy, Shires said.
The war itself has hinged heavily on perception and reputation, Shires said, stressing the importance of online perception battles in modern conflicts.
It’s a two-sided game, though. Israel ran its own secret influence campaign targeting US politicians, according to a June report from The New York Times
...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
that cited officials involved in the effort and documents tied to the operation.
"Anything that can change that perception is massively valuable for both sides," Shires told The Times of Israel.
Iranian spin doctors have also embraced artificial intelligence tools to spread disinformation. One AI-driven covert campaign produced fake news websites aimed at influencing American voters, though, according to OpenAI, the effort failed to gain significant engagement.
Three government-linked cyber entities have been driving Tehran’s cyber efforts, according to Read at Mandiant.
These advanced persistent threat (APT) groups — APT33, APT34 and APT42 — operate with sophisticated tactics. APT33 and APT42, for example, are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and have been targeting Israeli military officials and individuals involved in American presidential campaigns. In the past six months alone, the US and Israel accounted for around 60 percent of APT42’s known targets, according to Google threat intelligence findings.
APT34, meanwhile, is likely tied to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and has been found conducting espionage campaigns against African and Saudi Arabia
 ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat Frational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
n targets. It’s also previously compromised Israeli companies, including a human resources website.
Despite the technical prowess of these groups, experts say Iran’s cyber capabilities fall short of those of cyber titans such as Russia and China. However,
you can observe a lot just by watching...
the attacks can still be disruptive.
"They can’t necessarily shut down power to the White House," Read said, "but if they want to get into a US business, that’s well within their capabilities."
Read described much of Iran’s recent activity as targeting "low-hanging fruit," including universities and businesses, rather than sensitive defense assets.
Iran’s cyber influence extends beyond its borders, with proxy groups like the Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
-based terror group Hezbollah also engaging in cyberattacks. In November, Hezbollah-linked hackers breached Ziv Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Safed. Meanwhile,
...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment...
Iranian-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth . Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
groups in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
have deployed phone spyware against targets across the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
, according to mobile cybersecurity company Lookout.
A ceasefire or any reduction in fighting between Israel and Hamas wouldn’t slow the tempo of Iran’s cyber buildup, Shires said, underscoring the ongoing threat that Iran poses in cyberspace. But he stressed that if a positive diplomatic outcome isn’t reached soon, then a miscalculated cyberattack from either side could skyrocket tensions even further.
"That could very quickly be read into this tit-for-tat escalation... where each side is trying to calibrate very carefully what is appropriate and proportionate to respond, while also not going too far," he said.
Iran’s lesson after October 7 is clear: Cyberspace is not just a battleground for war, but a powerful medium for influence operations and intelligence gathering. And it is just getting started.
"The cyber stuff seems to be a way for Iran to both impact Israel and be seen impacting Israel that does not incur a significant escalation," Read said. "I don’t see it changing." |
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
...46th president of the U.S. The very model of probity....
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for 
...The nation is noted for