Protests in Iran are moving online.
The most famous group of computer hackers, “
Anonymous
”, decided on Tuesday, September 20 to launch “
Operation Iran
” to support the thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
“
This is a message from Anonymous, we are here and we are with you!
Operation Iran is underway.
Wait for us !
".
This is how Anonymous announced the series of cyberattacks aimed at weakening the regime in Tehran.
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The next day, last Wednesday, the website of the Iranian National Bank (NIB) was targeted.
According to several versions mentioned on Twitter, an Anonymous would have succeeded in this hack thanks to a screenshot of the personal digital space of a BNI employee.
But “
it is a totally improbable hypothesis
”, explains Clément Domingo, cybercrime researcher.
"
You can't hack from an image, the hackers just connected in large numbers to crash the bank's site
."
A technique called "
delict of service
which made the web page inaccessible outside of Iran.
Tehran responded directly by explaining that the servers were inviolate.
Personal data has not been breached and no movement of money is to be reported, according to the government.
“
Anyone can be an Anonymous, just enter specific communication channels on Telegram and claim yourself as a member of the group
,” says Clément Domingo.
“
There is very little coordination in the attacks, they are mostly isolated acts taken up by Anonymous accounts with the biggest possible sounding board
,” he adds.
Later in the day, news sites controlled by the regime or deemed close to it were stormed.
Among them, the state radio broadcaster
IRIB
and the news agency
Fars News Agency
were completely paralyzed.
Official organs of the Islamic Republic have not been spared.
The Iranian police, on the front line of protesters' criticism, were also hacked, as well as the Iranian parliament and intelligence services.
Following these events, hackers disseminated stolen data from these three institutions.
On Thursday, the Iranian government decided to shut down the Internet, in particular to prevent protesters from communicating with each other.
A measure that should have slowed cyberattacks, but Anonymous nevertheless maintained pressure on the regime.
From the start of the day, they tackled one of the main pieces of population control equipment: surveillance cameras.
Anonymous claimed responsibility for the hacking of more than 300 CCTV devices.
“
Today it is absolutely possible to take control of connected objects thanks to the IoT.
The access codes are very easy to circumvent
”, emphasizes Clément Domingo.
Shortly after, another cyberattack reportedly targeted Iran's Forensic Center.
The hackers claim to have gained access to the center's database.
Ultimate snub to the regime, the official website of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been purely deleted by a hacker according to the media
Iran International
.
A new level reached in cyberattacks
During the day on Friday, Anonymous posted on their Twitter pages - some of which peak at 55,000 subscribers - stolen videos showing the bloody repression of the demonstrations.
They also called on protesting Iranians to use the
Tor
browser to circumvent Tehran-imposed internet shutdowns.
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On Saturday, Twitter got carried away.
The Anonymous would have managed to take control of the databases of the Iranian Court of Auditors and Parliament.
"
Stealing data from an official body is well within the reach of a hacker claiming to be Anonymous, you just have to make sure that the operation was indeed committed by them
", specifies Clément Domingo.
On Twitter, users began posting phone numbers, locations and IP addresses believed to belong to all of Iran's lawmakers.
A few hours later, the "
hacktivists
masked said they hacked into Iran's teachers' savings fund.
They called on teachers to strike in support of the protests.
The group said it did not damage the teachers' files.
To fight against this proliferation of cyberattacks, the Iranian government has decided to restrict access to all state sites to foreign IP addresses.
“
If the Iranian government blocks people from accessing the internet, Anonymous will block the government from accessing the internet
,” the collective immediately responded on Twitter.
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