Iran reported disruptions to gas stations in Tehran including on Monday. The Iranian oil minister confirmed that about 70% of the gas stations in the country were damaged and noted: "At least 30% of the gas stations throughout the country are operating." Following these reports, the Israeli hacker group Predatory Sparrow claimed responsibility for a cyber attack that caused disruptions at gas stations in Iran.
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"Today we shut down most of the gas stations in Iran in response to Iranian aggression in the region. Khamenei, know that playing with fire has a price. A month ago we warned you that we would make you pay for your provocations. This is just a taste of what's to come that we are able to do," the Israeli hacker group Predatory Sparrow wrote in its message claiming responsibility for the cyber attack, which directly addressed Iran's Supreme Leader.
"As in our previous operations, this attack was carried out in a controlled manner that prevented damage to emergency services. Before the attack, we sent a warning to the emergency services in Iran and made sure not to damage some of the gas stations in the country, even though we had the ability to disable them completely." the message also said.
In addition, the hackers published screenshots with internal information from the Iranian gas companies. "Here is a small taste of what can be found on their network: information about gas stations, details about the payment system, access to the management system of the gas stations," the group wrote.
This is not the first time that the Predatory Sparrow group has taken responsibility for a cyber attack against Iran. About a year and a half ago, the hacker group halted the activity of a large steel plant in the country with a single attack. The group of hackers then published evidence of the damage caused to the factory.
In 2021, Iran reported a cyber attack that caused widespread malfunctions and disruptions at gas stations throughout the country. The number of stations that were shut down was approximately 4,300 stations, about 80% of all stations in Iran. Khamenei's cyber affairs advisor estimated at the time that the attack was carried out by a "foreign country."
Israel blames Iran, Hezbollah for cyberattack on hospital
At the same time, Israel accused Iran and Hezbollah of attempting a cyber attack targeting Ziv Hospital in Safed. After a joint investigation by the Israel National Cyber Directorate, the IDF and the Shin Bet, it was found that those behind the attempted attack are ARGIUS, an Iranian Ministry of Intelligence-linked cyber group, and Lebanese Cedar, a Hezbollah-linked cyber group.
The attempt to damage the hospital's operations was foiled, but the hackers managed to steal some of the sensitive information stored in the hospital's systems and publish it on social media. In joint efforts with the state attorney's office in order to maintain patient privacy, some of the exposed sensitive information was removed.
Osher Assor, director of the cyber division at AUREN Israel, said such attack attempts are serious. "Every day there are thousands of attempts by the evil axis of Hamas-Iran-Hezbollah against critical infrastructures in the State of Israel and so far Israel has managed to repel them all. But we must not be complacent and we must remember that enough is enough A small loophole and a lack of attention can cause damage, physical or mental," Assor said.
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Predatory Sparrow warns Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
(Photo: AFP PHOTO / HO / KHAMENEI.IR)
"For example, the IDF website was attacked a few days ago but there was no real damage. However, in the mind of Hamas, this was a victory for them. Just as in any other front, we are keen to be on guard, and on the other hand, official and not-so-official Israeli agents will continue to bring us our actual victory points.," he added.