08/16/2024 / By Laura Harris
A massive cyberattack has targeted the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised retaliatory strikes against Israel.
On July 31, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, a top negotiator in the ceasefire talks who had led the militant group’s political office in Qatar, was assassinated after he and other leaders of Iranian-backed militant groups attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel did not confirm or deny its involvement in the assassination, but Khamenei immediately blamed Israel and vowed to avenge Haniyeh.
Khamenei ordered a retaliatory strike during an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and instructed military leaders to prepare for potential escalation involving Israel or the United States.
But two weeks after the order, a cyberattack hit the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks and financial institutions.
The cyberattack, one of the largest cyberattacks in the history of the Islamic Republic, reportedly caused major disruptions to the Iranian banking system on Aug. 14. The hackers allegedly stole the personal information of account holders in Iran’s major banks.
Anonymous activists even stuck notes to ATM machines that read: “Dear customers, it is not possible to withdraw money from the bank because all of Iran’s budget and national resources have been invested in the war for the benefit of the corrupt regime of the Islamic Republic.”
Before the cyberattack, three European countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Germany urged Iran to refrain from any retaliatory attacks in a joint statement.
This is not the first time Israel targeted Iran in a cyberattack. (Related: Amazon, Microsoft and Google are supporting Israel’s genocide in Gaza through their cloud services.)
In December, the Israel-linked hacking activist group “Gonjeshke Darande,” also known as “Predatory Sparrow,” claimed responsibility for a significant cyberattack that disrupted operations at half of Iran’s gas stations. The nation’s Ministry of Energy later confirmed that 70 percent of gas stations across the country were not functioning.
“We, Gonjeshke Darande, carried out another cyberattack today, taking out a majority of the gas pumps throughout Iran,” the group posted on their official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Dec. 18. “This cyberattack comes in response to the aggression of the Islamic Republic and its proxies in the region. Khamenei, playing with fire has a price. A month ago we warned you that we’re back and that we will impose cost for your provocations. This is just a taste of what we have in store.”
The group claimed they left 30 percent of the stations in operation as a “humanitarian corridor,” but the cyberattack still caused widespread inconvenience and frustration among Iranian citizens, who rely heavily on these stations for their daily commutes and transportation needs. Long lines and chaotic scenes were reported at the few operational gas stations
These cyberattacks have been exposing the vulnerability of Iran against Israeli attacks.
Visit CyberWar.news for more stories about cyberattacks happening around the world.
Watch InfoWars founder Alex Jones as he issues a cyberattack warning.
This video is from the EARTH SHAKING NEWS channel on Brighteon.com.
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, banking, banks, big government, Central Bank of Iran, chaos, Collapse, computing, culture wars, cyberattack, cyberwar, fascism, finance riot, Glitch, Hamas, information technology, Iran, Iran-Israel conflict, Israel, money supply, national security, panic, terrorism, WWIII
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