Iran’s transportation ministry confirms cyber attack, says probe ongoing

Iran’s transportation ministry has confirmed a cyber attack targeted its internal websites and parts of its online infrastructure on Saturday, saying an investigation has been launched to determine the causes and origins of the attack.

“Following a disruption in the staff computer systems in the headquarters of the Ministry of Road and Urban Development, the issue is under investigation by technical experts of the ministry,” said a statement on the ministry’s website.

The statement said that the attack happened early in the morning on Saturday and caused the portal page of the ministry and its affiliated pages to go offline.

The attack comes a day after Iran’s railways company (RAJA) announced hackers had launched an attack on websites that offered sales and business services. The company denied any disruptions to the train services as a result of the attacks.

Earlier reports had suggested there was confusion in railway stations across Iran as hackers had managed to infiltrate systems displaying arrival and departures.

Iran has accused the United States and Israel of organizing and supporting sabotage acts in the past affecting the country’s online infrastructure.

Those attacks have mostly targeted civilian nuclear activities as well as utility services.

Iran’s telecoms minister Mohammad Javad Azari reacted to the attacks on transportation websites on Saturday by warning about “new provocations by cyber aggressors”.

Azari said that the attacks were similar to ransomware hacks that affected government computer systems in 2018.

He urged government departments to be in close contact with Iran’s information security agency MAHER if they received any ransomware messages from the hackers.

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