Iranian Hackers Attack After US Air Strikes

Uploaded on 2025-06-30 in NEWS-Cybersecurity News, INTELLIGENCE-Hot Spots-Iran, GOVERNMENT-Defence, FREE TO VIEW

Just hours after US President Donald Trump announced airstrikes on three key Iranian nuclear sites, a wave of cyber hacks linked to pro-Iranian groups began to surface. Iranian hackers are reported to have hit US banks, defence contractors and oil industry companies after the US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.

So far they have not caused serious problems to critical infrastructure or the US economy, although some analysts think that the US strikes could even prompt Iran, Russia, China and North Korea to increase their cyber warfare activities.

America may be militarily dominant, but its reliance on digital technology poses a vulnerability. Two pro-Palestinian hacking groups claimed they targeted more than a dozen aviation firms, banks and oil companies following the US airborne strikes.

The hackers have detailed their work in a post on the Telegram messaging service and urged other hackers to follow their lead, according to researchers at the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks the groups' activity.

The attacks were denial-of-service attacks, in which a hacker tries to disrupt a website or online network.
“We increase attacks from today,” one of the hacker groups, known as Mysterious Team, posted recently.

US Federal authorities say they are on guard for additional attempts by hackers to penetrate US networks and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently published a public statement warning of increased Iranian cyber threats.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a statement urging organisations that operate critical infrastructure like water systems, pipelines or power plants to stay vigilant. “The ongoing Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States. Low-level cyber attacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct attacks against US networks."

Iran also has a long-standing commitment to target those US Government officials whom it views as responsible for the death of an Iranian military commander killed in January 2020. “The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilising to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland... Multiple recent Homeland terrorist attacks have been motivated by anti-Semitic or anti-Israel sentiment, and the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict could contribute to US-based individuals plotting additional attacks”, says the DHS statement.

While Iran is thought to lack the ultimate technical abilities of China or Russia, Iran has long been effective when it comes to using cyber attacks to steal secrets, score political points or frighten opponents.

Cyber attacks mounted by Iran's government may end if a ceasefire holds as Iran looks to avoid another confrontation with the US, however hacker groups could still retaliate on Iran's behalf. In some cases, these groups have ties to military or intelligence agencies. In other cases, they act entirely independently.

Iran is almost certain to try use hacking to predict President Donald Trump’s next moves. In 2024 federal authorities charged three Iranian operatives with trying to hack Trump’s presidential campaign and it would be wrong to assume Iran has given up on these kinds of cyber attack. Ironically, the need to to strengthen America's digital defences come at at a time when the Trump administration has moved to cut some cybersecurity programs as part of its effort to shrink the size of government.

It appears that the cyber conflict will continue long after military action has ceased, and while the ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to be holding, cyber security analysts warn that the cyberwar will continue and possibly increase.

Experts stress the need for robust investments in cyber security, not just at the federal level but across private industries and critical infrastructure, as the digital battlefield becomes increasingly persistent.

ABC | DHS | APNews | Industrial Cyber | CNN | eSecurity Planet

Image: Ideogram

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