14 DAY TRIAL // On Tuesday, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that industrial units, including a power station from the Hormozgan province of Iran, were hit by cyberattacks which leveraged a piece of malware similar to the notorious Stuxnet.
ISNA quoted Ali Akbar Akhavan, the head of provincial civil defense. Akhavan reportedly revealed that a computer malware penetrated the organization’s networks, but it was contained.
However, after the article was published, Akhavan came forward with a statement saying that ISNA had misinterpreted what he said. The official explained that he merely announced their readiness to handle cyberattacks.
In response, ISNA published another article, standing by its initial report. The news outlet also made available an audio file to demonstrate the fact that Akhavan was talking about a cyberattack against industrial units.
Earlier this month, Iran’s CERT identified a new data-wiping malware. Despite the fact that it was not as sophisticated as Stuxnet or Flame, the malicious element could still cause some serious damage, experts noted.
Interestingly, former CIA officials revealed that, similar to Stuxnet, the Batchwiper malware was also a creation of Israel and the US.