Iran blamed for attack on Israeli water infrastructure

Last month, Industrial Cyber reported on cyber attacks targeting Israeli water infrastructure. On April 23, the Israeli government issued an alert in response to a malicious campaign aimed at industrial control systems at wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations and sewage facilities. The attack was thwarted before any damage was done.

Now, Iran is being linked to those cyber attacks.

According to a May 8 article in the Washington Post, “[i]nvestigators found that the hackers routed their attempted attack through computer servers in the United States and Europe — a common tactic used by adversaries of the West.”

The Washington Post reports that “Israeli officials and analysts fear that it could signal a further escalation in hostilities between the two countries and that Iran is getting bolder in its efforts to sabotage key systems.”

Similarly, digital news outlet Axios recently reported that on May 7, The Israeli security cabinet held a meeting to discuss the April attack. According to Axios, the Israeli government views the attack as “a major escalation by the Iranians, and the crossing of a red line due to the fact that the target was civilian water facilities.”

Iranian officials are denying responsibility for the attack on the Israeli water infrastructure.

“The Iranian government does not engage in cyberwarfare,” Alireza Miryousefi, spokesman for Iran’s Mission to the United Nations in New York, told the Washington Post.

Iran recently found itself on the receiving end of a critical infrastructure cyber attack. According to recent reports, Iranian officials confirmed a cyber attack on the country’s largest sea port at a press conference on  May 10.

The attack targeted the Shahid Rajaei port near Bandar Abbas and the Strait of Hormuz. Officials say that while the attackers failed to penetrate the Ports and Maritime Organization’s systems (PMO) they were able infiltrate and damage a number of private operating systems at the ports.

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