Virtual Event: Threat Detection and Incident Response Summit - Watch Sessions
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cybercrime

Exiled Iran Group Claims Tehran Hacking Attack

An exiled Iranian opposition group Thursday claimed a hacking attack which it said temporarily took control of dozens of websites run by Tehran’s municipality and thousands of the capital’s surveillance cameras.

An exiled Iranian opposition group Thursday claimed a hacking attack which it said temporarily took control of dozens of websites run by Tehran’s municipality and thousands of the capital’s surveillance cameras.

Iranian state media said earlier that the internal computer system of the municipality of Tehran was targeted in a “deliberate” shutdown Thursday in the latest apparent cyber attack in the country.

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), which is outlawed in Iran, said in a statement that their operatives inside the country had carried out the attack “in a major operation, planned months in advance.”

It said the hacking attack on the Tehran municipality websites saw images appear of MEK leader Massoud Rajavi, who has not been seen in public for years, and his wife Maryam Rajavi, as well as slogans against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

SMS messages to almost 600,000 Tehran residents carrying similar slogans had also been sent in the operation, it added.

The operation also saw MEK supporters take control of more than 5,000 security cameras around the city, including ones positioned close to the office of the supreme leader and the tomb of revolutionary founder Ruhollah Khomeini, the statement added.

“This vast network is one of the principal instruments of surveillance and suppression used by the clerical regime,” it said. 

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“In recent years, these cameras have been used to identify and detain protesters taking part in popular uprisings and protests,” it added.

– ‘Offensive measures’ –

The MEK, which in January claimed a major hack against state-run TV channels, said “this is the latest in a series of offensive measures undertaken by the resistance units against the regime’s agencies and ministries.”

It published on social media channels images of Tehran that the group claimed where taken by security cameras in the capital during the operation.

AFP could not independently verify the claim.

The action also comes at a time of protests in Iran over price rises, which have been intensified by anger over a deadly building collapse last month in the southwestern city of Abadan. 

Quoting a statement by the Tehran Municipality Information and Communications Technology Organization, state news agency IRNA said that the main municipality website was targeted at midday, with the webpage briefly replaced with the “posting of an insulting image”. 

“A deliberate disruption of the internal page of the internal system of Tehran municipality… put this system out of reach of colleagues for a few minutes,” IRNA reported.

Throughout Thursday, municipality websites including the main portal tehran.ir, as well as the “My Tehran” application offering municipal services to citizens, were not available while experts examined them.

In October, a cyber attack brought all fuel distribution stations in the country to a halt, resulting in long lines at petrol stations.

An Iranian general said Israel and the United States were likely to have been behind the fuel service cyber attack.

Since 2010, when Iran’s nuclear programme was hit by the Stuxnet computer virus, Iran and Israel have regularly accused each other of cyberattacks.

Related: Microsoft Exposes Iran-Linked APT Targeting U.S., Israeli Defense Tech Sectors

RelatedLeaked Files From Offensive Cyber Unit Show Iran’s Interest in Targeting ICS

view counter

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

SecurityWeek’s Threat Detection and Incident Response Summit brings together security practitioners from around the world to share war stories on breaches, APT attacks and threat intelligence.

Register

Securityweek’s CISO Forum will address issues and challenges that are top of mind for today’s security leaders and what the future looks like as chief defenders of the enterprise.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cyberwarfare

WASHINGTON - Cyberattacks are the most serious threat facing the United States, even more so than terrorism, according to American defense experts. Almost half...

Cybercrime

The changing nature of what we still generally call ransomware will continue through 2023, driven by three primary conditions.

Cybercrime

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group informed some customers last week that their online accounts had been breached by hackers.

Cybercrime

As it evolves, web3 will contain and increase all the security issues of web2 – and perhaps add a few more.

Cybercrime

A recently disclosed vBulletin vulnerability, which had a zero-day status for roughly two days last week, was exploited in a hacker attack targeting the...

Cybercrime

Satellite TV giant Dish Network confirmed that a recent outage was the result of a cyberattack and admitted that data was stolen.

Cybercrime

Zendesk is informing customers about a data breach that started with an SMS phishing campaign targeting the company’s employees.

Artificial Intelligence

The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 has demonstrated the potential of AI for both good and bad.