Cybersecurity researchers report that an attack on January 27th in which opposition leaders called for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader was a messy and unsophisticated wiper attack. The video footage ran on several of the nation’s state-operated channels in late January after a cyberattack hit Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. The cybersecurity incident is one of many politically motivated attacks that have occurred in Iran over the past year. This incident included the use of a wiper that may tie it to a previous high-profile attack conducted against Iran’s national transportation networks in July.
The earlier attacks have been attributed to a state-sponsored actor named Indra. Researchers believe that a copycat actor may have been behind the IRIB attack based on the sophistication of the malware and tools used in the attack. Iran’s national infrastructure has suffered numerous blows after being hit by a wave of attacks that aim to cause disruption and damage. In July, two incidents that targeted transportation infrastructure occurred back-to-back. In October, Iran suffered from an attack on its fuel-distribution network, stranding drivers stuck at fuel pumps across the country.
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