In a report titled "Iran Denies Train Hacking After 'Unprecedented Chaos'," Al Arabiya news site indicated that following reports of disruption in train operations across various regions of the country due to a cyber attack, the Iranian Railways Authority denied any information attack on its services, according to local media. The spokesperson for the National Railway Authority, Sadegh Sekri, stated that there were no disruptions or information attacks affecting passenger, freight, or intercity trains in the country at any time, as reported by ISNA agency.
"Unprecedented Chaos"
This came after the Iranian news agency Fars published a report yesterday about "unprecedented chaos" at the stations, mentioning the delay or cancellation of hundreds of train trips. The report, which was later deleted from their website, stated that the disruption in transit was attributed to "a widespread disturbance in computer systems, likely due to a cyber attack."
Fars Deletes the News
However, the authority confirmed in a statement published late Friday, as reported by local media, that train services were running according to the established schedules "without any problems." This followed Fars' release of a report featuring an image of a digital display board for departures and arrivals, with the word "Cancelled" next to each entry. The board also displayed the message "Prolonged delay due to information attacks."
Previous Attacks
It is noteworthy that Iran has been the target of several cyber attack attempts in recent years, including in 2019 when government sites were subjected to a highly organized attack. At that time, Communications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi stated that authorities "identified and thwarted" the cyber threat, without revealing the attackers' identities or the targeted sectors. In June, Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Jahromi revealed that the country was experiencing the most dangerous cyber attacks, indicating that certain attacks had been repelled while others penetrated the electronic infrastructure. He confirmed that Iran had faced more than 13 major and intense attacks targeting its infrastructure and key facilities in the vital sector over the past year, in addition to thousands of other cyber attacks directed at online and communication networks.
