binarypublish
A cyber attack has disrupted services at petrol stations across Iran, according to Iranian state TV and Israeli media. The hacker organization called Predatory Sparrow, which is believed to have connections to Israel, has reportedly claimed responsibility for the hacks.
- The Oil Minister of Iran, Javad Owji stated that the services have been disrupted at around 70% of Iran’s gas stations due to the cyberattacks, with foreign interference being suspected.
- Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility for conducting the cyberattack in a controlled manner so as to not cause potential damage to emergency services, mentioned in a statement.
- Iran’s civil defence agency, responsible for the country’s cybersecurity, stated that it is investigating all possible causes for the disruptions.
- The group Predatory Sparrow has previously claimed responsibility for cyber attacks against the country’s petrol stations, rail networks, and steel factories.
- Iran has recently experienced petrol outages, which are the first such incidents since 2021 when a major cyber attack had led to the disruption in the sale of fuel causing long queues at stations across the country.
- Iran had accused both Israel and the United States of being behind these attacks. This led to severe disruptions especially in Tehran, causing many petrol stations to operate manually.
- Reza Navar, spokesperson for Iran’s petrol stations association, attributed the disruptions to a software issue, which he said is being fixed by experts.
- Navar confirmed that there was no shortage in fuel supply and urged the public to avoid petrol stations for the time being.
- The oil ministry of Iran clarified that the disruptions were not related to any plans of raising the price of fuel, a measure which previously caused widespread protests back in 2019.
According to the state TV, petrol stations were seeking to provide fuel manually, and estimated that it would take approximately 6 to 7 hours to resolve the problems. Meanwhile, Israel has made no comment regarding the cyber attack on Iran. Moreover, Israel’s Cyber Unit said that Iran and Hezbollah were behind an estimated cyber attack on a hospital in northern Israel about three weeks ago. They were able to thwart the attack, but claimed that the hackers managed to retrieve “some of the sensitive information stored in the hospital’s information systems”.
