EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The government of Iran faced not one but two cyber attacks in less than a week. The attacks, apparently perpetrated by foreign governments, hit the country’s banks and electronic infrastructure.

Iran’s telecommunications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi, took to Twitter to announce the attacks but he provided no details. According to an Iranian news agency, Mr. Jahomi said that the country “recently faced a highly organized and state-sponsored attack on our e-government infrastructure which was…repelled by the country’s security shield.”

Mr. Jahromi said that Iran has been responding to attacks using their cyber security project known as “Dejfa fortress,” which managed to protect the country from the well-known APT27, a hacking tool experts have linked to Chinese-speaking hackers. While the telecommunications minister acknowledged the cyber attacks on Iran’s electronic infrastructure, he dismissed the reports of hacks of Iranian bank accounts.

These attacks come roughly six months after the US attacked Iran’s computer systems that control rocket and missile launchers in June. The US stated that the attacks were in retaliation for the shooting down of a US drone and attacks on oil tankers. The US cyber attack against Iran aimed to inhibit their ability to spread propaganda. Following this attack, Iran reconsidered its cyber preparedness strategies, particularly at their oil and gas facilities.

To learn more about targeted cyber attacks against Iran, see this BBC News article.