The Iranian Cyber Army is an Iranian

computer hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

group. It is thought to be connected to

Iranian government The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ( fa, نظام جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Neẓām-e jomhūrī-e eslāmi-e Irān, known simply as ''Neẓām'' ( fa, نظام, lit=the system) among its supporters) is the ruling state a ...

, although it is not officially recognized as an entity by the government. It has pledged loyalty to

Supreme Leader of Iran The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the List of heads of state of Iran, head of state of the Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, executiv ...

. According to

Tehran Bureau Tehran Bureau is an online news magazine covering politics, foreign affairs, culture and society in Iran and the Iranian Diaspora. It was founded by Iranian-born journalist Kelly Golnoush Niknejad in February 2008, initially as a blog. In May 200 ...

, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard initiated plans for the formation of an Iranian Cyber Army in 2005. The organisation is believed to have been commanded by

Mohammad Hussein Tajik Mohammad Hussein Tajik was the former commander of the Iranian Cyber Army, and a member of the Quds Force. He was detained and tortured following allegations that he leaked information to the Iranian Green Movement The Iranian Green Movement ( fa, ...

until his assassination. The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks conducted over the Internet since 2009, most notably attacks against

Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. The attack against Baidu resulted in the so-called Sino-Iranian Hacker War. In 2012, a group self-identified as "Parastoo" ( fa, پرستو - ''

Swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

'') hacked the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

's servers: the Iranian Cyber Army is suspected of being behind the attack. In 2013, a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards stated that Iran had "the 4th biggest cyber power among the world's cyber armies", a claim supported by the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies.

References

{{Hacking in the 2010s Hacker groups Cyberwarfare in Iran Hacking in the 2010s

See also

References