Trump approved cyber-strikes against Iran's missile systems

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/with-trumps-approval-pentagon-launched-cyber-strikes-against-iran/2019/06/22/250d3740-950d-11e9-b570-6416efdc0803_story.html

By Ellen Nakashima
The Washington Post
June 22, 2019

President Trump approved an offensive cyberstrike that disabled Iranian 
computer systems used to control rocket and missile launches, even as he backed 
away from a conventional military attack in response to its downing Thursday of 
an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone, according to people familiar with the 
matter.

The cyberstrikes, launched Thursday night by personnel with U.S. Cyber Command, 
were in the works for weeks if not months, according to two of these people, 
who said the Pentagon proposed launching them after Iran’s alleged attacks on 
two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier this month.

The strike against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was coordinated with 
U.S. Central Command, the military organization with purview of activity 
throughout the Middle East, these people said. They spoke on the condition of 
anonymity because the operation remains extremely sensitive.

Though crippling to Iran’s military command and control systems, the operation 
did not involve a loss of life or civilian casualties — a contrast to 
conventional strikes, which the president said he called back Thursday because 
they would not be “proportionate.”

The administration on Saturday warned industry officials to be alert for 
cyberattacks originating from Iran.

[...]

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