Hacked Traffic Cameras and Hijacked TVs: How Cyber ​​Operations Supported the War Against Iran

On Saturday, US and Israeli aircraft began a bombing campaign against Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several senior government officials. The attacks also hit military and civilian targets across the country, including a girls’ school, where at least 168 children and adults were killed.

A few days into the conflict, multiple reports, as well as statements by government officials, indicate that cyber operations played an important role in the beginning of the war. This shows that today, hacking can be an important element in real-world conflicts and wars, supporting kinetic strikes and providing intelligence from surveillance activities, as well as being used as part of psychological or psychological operations.

The most direct confirmation of the existence of a cyber operation playing a role in the war came from the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Keane, who said that “coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks” in Iran before the attack, “leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate, or respond effectively.”

The goal is to “disrupt, confuse and confuse the enemy,” Keane said in a press conference.

In another example of a coordinated cyber operation, Israel first bombed the offices of two state-owned channels, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

The IDF then hijacked the broadcast to broadcast speeches by Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging Iranians to join the fight against the regime, according to the Jerusalem Post. A similar hack occurred on one of the channels in January.

As part of the operation to kill Khamenei, Israeli spies reportedly used information from hacked traffic cameras across Tehran, according to the Financial Times. The newspaper reported, citing two anonymous sources, that Israel had access to the camera network for years, as well as “deeply penetrated mobile phone networks.”

Cases of unattributed cyberattacks that strongly appear to be the work of US or Israeli government hackers have also been reported.

According to multiple reports, on the first day of the war, hackers hacked into a popular Iranian prayer app called BadeSaba Calendar, sending a batch of messages to all users.

“For the freedom of our Iranian brothers and sisters, this is a call to all oppressive forces – lay down your weapons or join the forces of liberation,” one message read. “Only in this way can you save your life. For a free Iran.”

These letters made it clear that this was a psychological operation aimed at influencing those who might be more supportive of the regime than the rest of the population.

In response to these operations, at least for now, Iranian hackers have been largely ineffective, according to Bloomberg. At this point, it is not clear why the Iranian government hackers have remained silent. The fact that the Internet has been effectively shut down within the country may be one factor, one expert told Bloomberg.

It is important to note that while these operations may have been very real, they may not have played a significant role in the conflict, which makes sense given that war is about dropping bombs. There may also be a tendency on the part of the authorities themselves to exaggerate the impact of cyber operations as a means of intimidating and intimidating the enemy.

This appeared to be the case in Venezuela earlier this year, where US officials, including Trump himself, suggested that US hackers caused a power outage in Caracas during the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro. But, as Cyberscoop’s analysis indicated, cyber activities likely played a small role, and the partial blackouts were very likely caused by fighter jets destroying electrical substations.