After the decision of the United States president Donald Trump to pull out of a planned military attack on Iran, it has been reported that the US launched a cyber-attack on Iranian weapons systems. According to a report by the Washington Post, computer systems controlling rocket and missile launchers in Iran were disabled by the cyber-attack.
This action by the US was taken in retaliation of the shooting down of an unmanned drone by Iran as well as in relation to the attacks on two oil tankers for which Iran has been blamed by the US.
Sanctions which President Trump described as "major" have also been imposed on Iran by the US. The reasons for imposition of the sanctions included preventing Iran from laying hands on getting nuclear weapons as well as to put economic pressure on the country to force Tehran ot alter its policies and practices on nuclear weapons.
Last year, the US pulled out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement which caused a rise of tensions between US and Iran which also resulted in economic downturn in Iran.
It would exceed internationally agreed limits on its nuclear programme, Iran said last week. While claiming that he did not want to wage a war against Iran, Trump has also warned that Tehran would have to face "obliteration" if a conflict did happen between the two countries.
The cyber attack undertaken by the US against Iranian military systems were being planned for a number of weeks according to news reports in the US quoting information from sources. This attack was identified as a way of response by the US to the attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
According to reports, the weapons systems that were used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran which is believed to be behind the shooting down of the US unmanned drone last week. Iran has also been accused by the US of attacking the two oil tankers.
The cyber-attack had disabled the systems, claimed news reports by both the Washington Post and AP news agency. The aim of the cyber attack was to temporarily take the weapons systems offline, said a report in the New York Times.
Iran was stepping up its own cyber-attacks on the US, warned the US Department for Homeland Security on Saturday.
"Iranian regime actors and their proxies" were directing "Malicious cyberactivity" at US industries and government agencies, said Christopher Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
He said that "destructive 'wiper' attacks" were being used by them and were resorting to tactics such as "spear phishing, password spraying and credential stuffing" with the aim of taking control of entire systems and networks.
The Washington Post also reported that US naval ship systems were also being attempted to be hacked by Iran.
"If Iran wants to become a prosperous nation... it's OK with me," Trump said. "But they're never going to do it if they think in five or six years they're going to have nuclear weapons." "Let's make Iran great again," he added.
(Source:www.bbc.com)
This action by the US was taken in retaliation of the shooting down of an unmanned drone by Iran as well as in relation to the attacks on two oil tankers for which Iran has been blamed by the US.
Sanctions which President Trump described as "major" have also been imposed on Iran by the US. The reasons for imposition of the sanctions included preventing Iran from laying hands on getting nuclear weapons as well as to put economic pressure on the country to force Tehran ot alter its policies and practices on nuclear weapons.
Last year, the US pulled out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement which caused a rise of tensions between US and Iran which also resulted in economic downturn in Iran.
It would exceed internationally agreed limits on its nuclear programme, Iran said last week. While claiming that he did not want to wage a war against Iran, Trump has also warned that Tehran would have to face "obliteration" if a conflict did happen between the two countries.
The cyber attack undertaken by the US against Iranian military systems were being planned for a number of weeks according to news reports in the US quoting information from sources. This attack was identified as a way of response by the US to the attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
According to reports, the weapons systems that were used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran which is believed to be behind the shooting down of the US unmanned drone last week. Iran has also been accused by the US of attacking the two oil tankers.
The cyber-attack had disabled the systems, claimed news reports by both the Washington Post and AP news agency. The aim of the cyber attack was to temporarily take the weapons systems offline, said a report in the New York Times.
Iran was stepping up its own cyber-attacks on the US, warned the US Department for Homeland Security on Saturday.
"Iranian regime actors and their proxies" were directing "Malicious cyberactivity" at US industries and government agencies, said Christopher Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
He said that "destructive 'wiper' attacks" were being used by them and were resorting to tactics such as "spear phishing, password spraying and credential stuffing" with the aim of taking control of entire systems and networks.
The Washington Post also reported that US naval ship systems were also being attempted to be hacked by Iran.
"If Iran wants to become a prosperous nation... it's OK with me," Trump said. "But they're never going to do it if they think in five or six years they're going to have nuclear weapons." "Let's make Iran great again," he added.
(Source:www.bbc.com)