Officials: Israel linked to a disruptive cyberattack on Iranian port facility

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/officials-israel-linked-to-a-disruptive-cyberattack-on-iranian-port-facility/2020/05/18/9d1da866-9942-11ea-89fd-28fb313d1886_story.html

ByJoby Warrick and Ellen Nakashima
The Washington Post
May 18, 2020

On May 9, shipping traffic at Iran’s bustling Shahid Rajaee port terminal came 
to an abrupt and inexplicable halt. Computers that regulate the flow of 
vessels, trucks and goods all crashed at once, ­creating massive backups on 
waterways and roads leading to the facility.

After waiting a day, Iranian officials acknowledged that an unknown foreign 
hacker had briefly knocked the port’s computers off­line. Now, more than a week 
later, a more complete explanation has come to light: The port was the victim 
of a substantial cyberattack that U.S. and foreign government officials say 
appears to have originated with Iran’s archenemy, Israel.

The attack, which snarled traffic around the port for days, was carried out by 
Israeli operatives, presumably in retaliation for an earlier attempt to 
penetrate computers that operate rural water distribution systems in Israel, 
according to intelligence and cybersecurity officials familiar with the matter.

A security official with a foreign government that monitored the May 9 incident 
called the attack “highly accurate” and said the damage to the Iranian port was 
more serious than described in official Iranian accounts.

[...]

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