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Eurasia
May, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
Iran hit by cyber attack that left US flag on screens
bne IntelliNews
Hackers attacked networks in a number of coun- tries including Iran, leaving the US flag embla- zoned on desktop screens along with a message reading “Don’t mess with our elections”, the Iranian IT ministry said on April 7.
Iran has been a frequent target for American and allied hackers who have previously targeted a nu- clear power plant as well as several private com- panies, along with newspapers and universities.
The attack affected some 200,000 router switches across the country using a flaw in Cisco server systems which are not officially supported in Iran but are often smuggled in through Dubai.
A blog published on April 5 by Nick Biasini, a threat researcher at Cisco’s Talos Security In-
telligence and Research Group, said: “Several incidents in multiple countries, including some specifically targeting critical infrastructure, have involved the misuse of the Smart Install protocol... As a result, we are taking an active stance, and are urging customers, again, of the elevated risk and available remediation paths.”
Iran’s Communications and Information Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari- Jahromi wrote on his Twitter account that state computer emergency response systems were also believed to have been affected.
Azari-Jahromi said the attack mainly affected Europe, India and the US, Iranian state television reported.
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