Iran’s president claims cyberattackers crippled every gas station in the country to create ‘disorder’ but fails to assign blame

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said a cyberattack targeted every gas station in the country in an attempt to spark anger and create “disorder and disruption,” but he failed to say who the government believes was behind it.

The comments, which were broadcast on Iranian state television, saw the country’s president announce that a cyberattack had crippled every gas station in the republic, making the government-issued cards used by citizens to buy fuel useless.

“There should be serious readiness in the field of cyberwar, and related bodies should not allow the enemy to follow their ominous aims to make problem in the trend of people's life,” Raisi stated, adding that the attack had been aimed at making “people angry by creating disorder and disruption.”

Despite announcing the vast cyberattack on the Islamic Republic, Raisi did not blame a country or group for the incident, though he did indicate that anti-Iranian forces were trying to inflame tensions. A group of hackers did claim responsibility for the attack on the gas stations late on Tuesday, but they have yet to provide any evidence that they were behind it.

Digital systems used for purchasing fuel showed a message reading “cyberattack 64411,” according to reports, bearing similarities to another incident which hit the country’s rail system back in July. The July attack was blamed by Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point on a group of hackers known as Indra.

Iran has been subjected to multiple cyberattacks in recent times, with an August incident exposing a video that reportedly showed abusive behavior at the country’s Evin prison. Another attack, which saw the Stuxnet computer virus infect devices, forced the government to disconnect infrastructure from the internet while it sought to contain the spread of that cyberattack.

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