Iranian Hackers Target US and European Critical Infrastructure
Iranian state-sponsored hackers are intensifying cyberattacks on water, energy, and food infrastructure across the United States and Europe to cause physical-world harm.
Iranian hackers are intensifying cyberattacks designed to cause physical-world harm by targeting critical infrastructure across the United States and Europe. Recent operations include locking operators out of water station control panels in the U.S. Midwest, breaching networks on energy tankers bound for Texas, and remotely increasing temperatures in European grocery store refrigerators to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, which caused fires and food spoilage.
U.S. and Israeli officials report that Iran has shifted its tactics toward data wiping and the hacking of programmable logic controllers to disrupt operational technology. The attackers are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence to identify zero-day vulnerabilities and reverse-engineer patches. U.S. and French officials link this activity to CyberAv3ngers, a unit of Iran's cyber command also known as Shahid Kaveh.
The Government of Iran denies carrying out these attacks and suggests other countries are responsible. However, the Israel National Cyber Directorate and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have warned that these operations represent an evolution in Tehran's cyber playbook, moving from espionage toward the active disruption of essential services.
