Iran’s petrol distribution network was completely parlayed in a cyberattack a few days ago. Iran’s intranet-based petrol system was targeted which allows motorists to purchase subsidized fuel using smart cards which have been issued by the government. The majority of Iranians depend on subsidized fuel as the country’s economy has been badly damaged by US sanctions as well as the corruption of its government. The cyberattack which affected almost 3,000 petrol fuel pumps to only sell as unsubsidized prices resulted in long queues and chaos at petrol stations. Digital billboards were also hacked to display, “”[Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei, where is our fuel?”.
The attack was claimed by a group called, “Predatory Sparrow” but this has been disputed by some of the country’s policymakers. The group claimed on a Telegram post that the attack was a “response to the cyber actions by Tehran’s terrorist regime against the people in the region and around the world”. The group claimed to have notified emergency services not to cause “long-term damage”. They also claimed to be behind a cyberattack that took place on Iran’s rail network in July that changes message board notifications to delayed or canceled causing disruption to travel.
Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi was not amused as he announced in a cabinet meeting that he thought, “Some are aiming to stoke public anger by creating chaos and disrupting people’s lives”. Raisi also claimed that the situation was prevented from worsening by the “vigilance” of Iranian authorities.
The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) made a public announcement to reveal only 5% of the petrol stations were operational again the next day.
Abolhassan Firuzabadi, the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace believes the attack was conducted by a foreign country but said that it was “too early to announce by which country and in which way it was done”.
Others believe that it is no coincidence that this hack occurred on the second anniversary of mass protests which took place in Iran after the Iranian government raised its petrol prices by 50%, in an already crippled economy. These protests became bloody and over 300 people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to Amnesty International, figures which were disputed by Iranian officials.