Western official: Attack on Iranian port response to failed assault on Israel

An unnamed Western official tells Israeli TV that a sophisticated cyberattack on an Iranian port last week was retaliation for Tehran’s failed attempted assault on Israel’s water infrastructure last month.

This appears to indicate that Israel has adopted a “tit-for-tat” strategy in responding to Iranian cyber warfare, a tactic already used by the Israeli military with physical, or kinetic, attacks.

“The cyberattack on the [Shahid Rajaee port] in Iran was an Israeli response to the cyber attack that [the Iranians] carried out against Israel two weeks before against Mekorot [national water company] components — an attack that failed,” the official from a Western country tells Channel 12 news, on condition of anonymity.

“Israel hopes that [the Iranians] stop there. They attacked water infrastructure components. They didn’t really cause damage — but they crossed a line and [Israel] needed to retaliate,” the official says.

On Monday night, the Washington Post reported that Israel carried out a cyber attack on an Iranian port facility on May 9, shutting it down completely and causing widespread chaos.

— Judah Ari Gross