Iran’s Fars News Agency Hit by Cyber Attack
date
Dec 29, 2022
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irans-fars-news-agency-hit-by-cyber-attack
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Published
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Iran’s Fars News agency attacked by cybercriminals recently. There are a couple of conspiracy theories, yet nothing revealed.
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Website
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Post
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Author
Oguz Dagli
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News
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Iran’s Fars News Agency Hit by Cyber Attack - FastVPN
Fars News Agency is one of Iran’s main sources of news managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Fars news agency’s website was disrupted by a cyberattack late on the 25th of November. The cyberattack was apparently related to the long-lasting protests of Mahsa Amini’s death that have rocked Iran since the 16th of September.
Mahsa Amini was 22 years old Iranian woman who got arrested by the morality police of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for not wearing a hijab per the government’s standards. She lost her life on the 16th of September suspiciously in the hospital when she was in custody. Her death led to protests around the country, and women and men still stand side by side against the regime.
Fars news agency posted, “Removing possible bugs… may cause problems for some agency services for a few days” on its Telegram channel about the cyberattack. Israel is to be blamed for the cyberattacks, as the agency added “Cyberattacks against Fars news agency are carried out almost daily from different countries, including the occupied territories (Israel)” on the post. Iran has accused Israel and the United States of America of many cyberattacks before, and vice versa.
The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran admits that during Mahsa Amini protests more than 200 people were killed but the number is more than 500 according to Google. Many more got arrested during the protests too. People around the world are supporting the protestors on their just cause.
Iranian hacktivist group Black Reward claims to hack Fars News Agency and obtain data related to Iran’s nuclear program. Black Reward demanded the release of imprisoned protestors and political prisoners in 24 hours and threatened to release the data otherwise. After a 24-hour ultimatum, the data was released on social media with a short clip of the so-called nuclear site in Iran.
On the 23rd of November, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran admitted that one of its subsidiaries was targeted by a specific foreign country, without saying the name of the country. Authorities did not mention the importance of stolen data and documents but talked of them degrading the significance.
Even though the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran did not release the political prisoners and people who got arrested, the protests seem to be successful in the termination of the morality police. Morality police exist in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said “The morality police have nothing to do with the judiciary, and it was abolished by those who created it” on Saturday. This seems to be a result of the support the protest gets from millions of people around the world.
The protests also receive support from many governments who appreciate secularism. This makes Iran open to this kind of cyberattacks as cyber wars are the new wars among countries. Hacktivists and hackers around the world attack Iran to find any vulnerabilities so that they can be used against the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in favor of protests.
In a world full of cyber wars, it is vital to be cautious as individuals as much as governments. Being extra careful about what you click on, preferring one-time use passwords, and using a VPN are the first 3 steps of online security. Using a high-security VPN is a must if the information you have online is as valuable as the ones Fars news agency had. The hackers also deleted the website’s database which caused Fars News Agency a setback for business too. Since you are reading this news on the cyberattack, I am sure you are being cautious online, but wanted to remind you anyways.
