A cyberattack in Iran shuts down a government system that manages fuel subsidies, leaving long queues at fuel stations across the country.
- ISNA reported that when people tried to buy fuel with government subsidiary cards, they received “Cyberattack 44411”.
- Iranian state television channels shared images of lines at closed gas stations but didn’t explain why pumps were closed.
A cyberattack in Iran shuts down a government system that manages fuel subsidies, leaving long queues at fuel stations across the country.
“The Supreme National Security Council confirmed that there has been a cyber attack against the petrol distribution computer system,” state television said.
It had also reported earlier that the interruption was due to “disruptions to the computer system”, and it also added that details of the attack are under investigation.
According to a media report, Iranians trying to buy fuel with a government-issued card for subsidies received a message reading “cyberattack 64411”. The note is a reference to a cyberattack in July that disrupted Iran’s train service.
Research from cybersecurity company SentinelOne revealed that Iran’s train station system was targeted with malware specifically built to delete data (file wiper) called Meteor that had not been seen before.
According to the cybersecurity company, “At this time, we have not been able to tie this activity to a previously identified threat group nor additional attacks. However, the artefacts suggest that this wiper was developed in the past three years and was designed for reuse.”
In today’s outage, no group has immediately claimed responsibility, AP reports.
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