A well-known Israeli hacking group claimed responsibility for the attack on Iranian internet providers, ahead of social media reports that internet connections were down in parts of Iran. “We will attack Iranian systems and internet providers within minutes,” WeRedEvils posted on Telegram on Thursday night.
Jerusalem Post The media, which first reported that parts of Iran’s networks were “reportedly down,” referred to WiFi rather than fixed-line services, citing “numerous comments from users in Iran who said they had heard that the internet was down in parts of the country and that it had been cut off in parts of Tehran.”
Earlier this morning, the hacking group posted on Telegram again, saying: “We have hacked into Iranian communications systems and collected a ton of intelligence which we have passed on to Israeli security forces. We know that there are Iranians here who support the IRGC and we would like to contact them personally. Stop raising the red flag, raise the white flag.”
WeRedEvils has previously claimed to have hacked Iranian national infrastructure, including a reported power grid attack in 2023. “This is our message to Iran,” they said at the time. “Don’t play with fire. The next attack will be harder, more damaging, and different from the cyber attacks you know.”
Reports from Iran are uncertain and the extent of the alleged attack and WiFi “collapse” remains unclear. Public communications networks are unstable across the country at the best of times, with many users relying on public mobile phones rather than fixed-line connections.
The news comes as Iran is reportedly preparing retaliation for an attack that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday, which was blamed on Israeli forces. The missile attack was widely reported The New York Times It cited local intelligence sources who claim that the explosives were “smuggled into a guesthouse in Tehran” several months ago.
As it is the start of the weekend in Iran, it will be interesting to see if more definitive reports emerge from the country over the remaining days.