On Saturday, U.S. and Israeli jets began a bombing campaign against Iran, killing its supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several senior government officials. The attacks also hit military and civilian targets all across the country, including a girls’ school, where at least 168 children and adults were killed.
After a few days of conflict, multiple reports, as well as statements from government officials, suggest that cyber operations played a significant role in the beginning of the war. This shows that in current times, hacking can be an important component of real world conflicts and war, supporting kinetic strikes, providing intelligence from surveillance activities, as well as being used as part of psychological operations, or psyops.
The most direct confirmation of a cyber operation playing part in the war came from the U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Dan Caine, who said that “coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks” in Iran ahead of the attack, “leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate or respond effectively.”
The goal, Caine said in a press conference, was to “disrupt, disorient and confuse the enemy.”
In another example of a coordinated kinetic-cyber operation, Israel first bombed the offices of two state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) channels.
Israel Defense Forces then hijacked the broadcast to air speeches by Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging Iranians to join the fight against the regime, according to the Jerusalem Post. A similar hack against one of the channels happened in January.
As part of the operation to kill Khamenei, Israeli spies reportedly used information from hacked traffic cameras across Tehran, according to The Financial Times. Citing two anonymous sources, the paper reported that Israel had had access to the camera network for years, as well as “deeply penetrated mobile phone networks.”
Contact Us Do you have more information about hacking operations in the context of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran? We would love to learn how this affects you. From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or Do you have more information about hacking operations in the context of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran? We would love to learn how this affects you. From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or by email
There have also been reported cases of unattributed cyberattacks that strongly appear to be the work of either American or Israeli government hackers.
According to multiple reports, on the first day of the war, hackers breached a popular Iranian prayer app called BadeSaba Calendar, sending a handful of messages to all users.
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