A cyber security attack on an Iranian port terminal has been blamed on Israel.
US and foreign government officials say the cyber attack on Shahid Rajaee port terminal appears to have originated with Israel, reported The Washington Post.
On 9 May, the attack saw computers crash, creating a backlog of traffic on waterways and roads linked to the facility. Iranian officials later acknowledged that an unknown foreign hacker had briefly knocked the port’s computers offline.
The Washington Post said the attack was carried out by Israeli operatives, presumably in retaliation for an attempt on 24 April to penetrate computers that operate rural water distribution systems in Israel, according to intelligence and cybersecurity officials familiar with the matter."
A security official with a foreign government that monitored the May 9 incident called the attack “highly accurate” and said the damage to the Iranian port was more serious than described in official Iranian accounts.
“There was total disarray,” said the official, who spoke on the condition that his identity and national affiliation not be revealed. A US official with access to classified files also said that Israelis were believed to have been behind the attack.
The attack on the port’s computers was confirmed on May 10 by Mohammad Rastad, managing director of the Ports and Maritime Organization, in a statement carried by Iran’s ILNA news agency.
