A hacker gang with ties to Israel said on Monday, December 18, that they took down gas stations across Iran in a cyberattack.
According to Iranian official media, a software issue was the reason why over 70% of the country's gas stations were inaccessible, and they warned the public not to panic if going to the remaining outlets. Notably, there are around 33,000 petrol stations throughout the nation.
People wait at a gas station in Tehran on December 18, 2023, as fuel distribution across 70% of Iran's gas stations is disrupted. The disruption is due to a "possible sabotage," state media reported.
A 'Taste' of Something Bigger?
The "Gonjeshke Darande" organization, which translates to "predatory sparrow," claimed responsibility for shutting down most of the gas pumps throughout the said nation, according to The Times of Israel. They said they had compromised the payment systems, central servers, and administration systems of all affected gas stations.
They issued comments in both Persian and English, stating that the hack was a reaction to the aggressive actions of the Islamic Republic and its regional affiliates. "This is just a taste of what we have in store," the group warned.
Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen have intensified their attacks against Israel since the beginning of the Israeli-Hamas conflict. The war in Gaza started with a shocking assault on October 7 in which Hamas terrorists abducted approximately 240 hostages and slaughtered 1,200 people in southern Israel.
In a second Telegram message, Gonjeshke Darande said that the cyberattack was controlled and that precautions were taken to ensure that emergency services were not harmed, just as in their prior operations.
"We delivered warnings to emergency services across the country before the operation began, and ensured a portion of the gas stations across the country were left unharmed for the same reason, despite our access and capability to completely disrupt their operation," the group stated.
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Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate
There is speculation that the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate is associated with the organization, as reported by The Times of Israel.
The Iranian state-owned Khuzestan Steel Co. was forced to cease production last year due to a cyberattack, which Gonjeshke Darande claimed responsibility for. A year prior, the organization crippled petrol stations throughout Iran by attacking the country's gasoline delivery infrastructure.
While Israel's official stance on its actions against Iran is typically vague, military reporters in the country have dropped strong hints that the Iranian steel plant's cyberattack in 2022 was carried out by Military Intelligence's Unit 8200.
Israeli defense minister Benny Gantz launched an inquiry into the media leaks that allegedly damaged the country's "ambiguity policy" in response to the revelations.
There has been a spate of cyberattacks against Iran's gas stations, railways, and factories in the last few years. There have been instances of hacking into surveillance cameras installed in government institutions, such as prisons.
Iran has a hard time acquiring modern software and hardware. As a result, the country often uses devices made in China or uses outdated systems that manufacturers no longer patch, leaving them vulnerable to hackers. Iran is home to a large population that regularly uses pirated software, including Windows.
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