Iran Escalates Cyberwarfare Targeting Of Civilians

(New York, N.Y.) — Iran’s cyberwarfare activities are expanding with widespread attacks against civilian targets. Israeli officials have pointed to the Iranian regime as the responsible party for doxing members of the LGBTQ community and stealing medical files from a network of private clinics. Nearly 16 percent of all Israelis were directly affected by the attack. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is one of the primary cyber threat actors behind Iran’s offensive cyber operations.

Cyberwarfare is an increasingly important element in Iran’s national security strategy, which relies extensively on asymmetric warfare. Iran is believed to be capable – but would have difficulty executing on its own – of major cyber attacks against the highest-value targets in the U.S., the federal government, the military, the largest banks and corporations, and the most critical industrial control systems – water systems, the electric grid, transit systems, oil refineries, manufacturing, and other major infrastructure. Softer targets, including websites and medical facilities such as those targeted in Israel, often contain vulnerabilities that Iran can and has sought to exploit. 

The U.S. Treasury Department recently designated six Iranian citizens and one Iranian entity for conducting a state-sponsored attack on U.S. citizens and the U.S. electoral process.  

The mounting concerns over an Iranian cyber attack reflect the considerable investment Iran has made in advancing its cyber warfare capabilities over the past decade. Iran’s development of cyberwarfare capabilities makes for a potent addition to its asymmetric toolkit that gives Iran an additional, low-cost means beyond its limited conventional capabilities to conduct espionage on and strike stronger adversaries in furtherance of its foreign policy and national security objectives. 

To read UANI’s resource The Iranian Cyber Threat, please click here. 

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