National Police Chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said Tuesday that this just shows that Iranians ought to rely on the new Iran-only intranet to increase the security of their computers.
That comment raised some eyebrows and suspicions.
Moqaddam was obviously trying to use the reported cyber attacks to promote the intranet, sometimes called a “Halal Internet,” which is expected to come on line this summer.
But the government has insisted the new state intranet will not cut Iranians off from the outside world. If that is true, hackers from the outside world would still be able to reach into Iran.
If the intranet will really provide protection, as Moqaddam suggested, it will be because hackers cannot get into Iran—and Iranians cannot get out.
Moqaddam said recent hacking attacks have struck a number of ministries in recent days. He did not identify them.
As for the hit on the Oil Ministry computers April 23, Deputy Oil Minister Hamdollah Mohammadpur said the attack was in the form of a virus that was designed to “steal and damage” data.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council testified to a congressional committee that the Islamic Republic is building up its abilities to launch crippling cyber attacks on the infrastructure of other countries.
“Over the past three years, the Iranian regime has invested heavily in both defensive and offensive capabilities in cyberspace. Equally significant, its leaders now increasingly appear to view cyber warfare as a potential avenue of action against the United States,” he said.