Iranian, Israeli media: Cyber-attack disrupts fuel station services in Iran

Official Iranian and Israeli local media reported that a cyber hacking group, accused by Iran of having ties to Israel, claimed responsibility for executing cyber attacks that led to the disruption of fuel station services across Iran on Monday. 

Earlier, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji told the country's state television that services were disrupted in about 70 percent of fuel stations in Iran, citing external interference as a possible cause. 

Iranian state television reported that a hacking group called "Predatory Sparrow" claimed responsibility for the incident, and Israeli local media also published similar reports about the group claiming responsibility. 

The hacking group stated in a statement, as reported by Iranian media, "This cyberattack was carried out in a controlled manner to avoid potential damage to emergency services." 

Iran's civil defence agency, responsible for cybersecurity in the country, stated that it is still investigating all possible causes of the disruptions. 

Official Iranian media mentioned that this group had previously claimed responsibility for cyber-attacks targeting fuel stations, railway networks, and steel factories in the country. 

In late 2021, a major cyber attack disrupted the sale of subsidized gasoline in Iran, leading to long queues at stations nationwide. 

Iran typically accuses both Israel and the United States of being behind such attacks. 

Iranian media reported that the service disruptions began early on Monday, significantly affecting Tehran, forcing many fuel stations to operate manually. 

Owji stated, "At least 30 percent of fuel stations are operational, and the rest are gradually resolving the issues that led to service disruptions." 

A spokesperson for Iran's petrol stations association told the semi-official Fars news agency on Monday that the apparent cause is a software issue. 

The spokesperson added, "A software problem in the fuel system has been confirmed at some stations across the country, and experts are currently resolving the issue." 

The spokesperson emphasized that the country is not experiencing any fuel shortages and urged car drivers not to head to fuel stations at the moment. 

The Oil Ministry had earlier stated to state television that the outages were not related to plans to raise fuel prices. Widespread protests occurred in 2019 due to fuel price hikes, met with a violent government crackdown. 

State television mentioned that fuel stations are attempting to provide services manually, and it will take six to seven hours to address the current issues. 

Israel has not yet commented on the cyber-attack in Iran. 

On Monday, Israel's Cyber Unit stated that Iran and Hezbollah were responsible for attempting a cyber-attack on a hospital in northern Israel three weeks ago. It added that the attack was thwarted, but the infiltrators managed to obtain "some sensitive information stored on the hospital's information systems." 

Reuters