05 July 2020

The War Going on Right Under Our Noses

13 Tammuz 5780

Back on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, I wrote the following:
Were you aware that Israel and Iran are at war and have been for the past month?

For the entire month of Iyyar, Iran and Israel have been openly engaged in a major cyber war.

It was Rosh Chodesh Iyyar I and II (April 24-25) when Iran attacked Israel's water system...
6 facilities said hit in Iran’s cyber attack on Israel’s water system in April

Six facilities were hit in an Iranian cyber attack last month on the country’s water infrastructure that succeeded in impacting some systems but did not cause any disruption in the water supply or waste management, the Ynet news site reported on Tuesday.
It was the 15 Iyyar (May 9), the day after Pesach Sheini, when Israel made a counterattack against the Shahid Rajaee port facility in the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas...
Israel reportedly responded to the incident with a sophisticated cyber attack on an Iranian port facility, causing widespread chaos in the Islamic Republic.
On Thursday last, 27 Iyyar, Al Quds Day in Iran and celebrated as Yom Yerushalayim in Israel, Iran attacked again...
Israeli Websites Hacked in Cyberattack: ‘Be ready for a big surprise’

300 sites defaced with clip of Tel Aviv burning; security agencies have been bracing for Iran-linked attack for Quds Day, after port hack blamed on Israel
Just so you know, it's still going on and it has notched up another level this week...
Were Iran blasts triggered by ‘Son of Stuxnet’?

Five recent explosions in Iran may have been caused by computer viruses similar to the Stuxnet virus that disabled Iranian centrifuges in 2010.

Two of the blasts took place at power plants, one at a missile research, development and production site, one at a new uranium enrichment centrifuge center, and the last (if it can be considered part of the attacks) in downtown Tehran at a medical facility that could have been a cover for nuclear operations, such as a hidden command center.

Iran says that in the case of the Shiraz Power Plant the facility was hit by a cyberattack, which poses the question: Is this “the son of Stuxnet?”

Iran under pressure after fourth mysterious explosion


On Saturday yet another massive fire damaged a power plant in its restive Khuzestan province. Iran said, once again, this was an accident. But quietly Iran is letting it be known that there are concerns, including through commentary at its major media suggesting it might respond to the attacks.

...This is what Iran must weigh today: If Iran says it is under attack it must respond or be humiliated. It would also show that its systems are compromised at its most sensitive sites. If it says that all these are accidents then it must explain why there are so many accidents. Neither choice is enviable. Either it will show weakness in its defenses, or failing infrastructure.

Air defenses respond to rocket attack on US Embassy in Baghdad

...The rocket attack on Saturday took place after a number of rocket attacks near the US Embassy in Baghdad and other US military sites in recent weeks. In June, there were six rocket attacks on the US Embassy, the airport and US forces at a base.

Two weeks ago, the Iraqi military said that its forces had raided a base in southern Baghdad used by militiamen suspected of firing rockets at foreign embassies in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and its international airport.
Iraqi authorities were questioning the 14 men detained during the raid, the military added. A number of those arrested were later released.
The raid was the most brazen action by Iraqi forces against a major Iran-backed militia in years and targeted the Kataib Hezbollah group, which US officials accuse of firing rockets at bases hosting US troops and other facilities in Iraq.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq push their gains on July 4
The Iranian-backed militias have been increasingly expressing anger at the US and Saudi Arabia and Israel.
How long until this simmering pot boils over?

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