Suspected Iranian hackers have staged a massive cyberattack on critical infrastructure and government computers in Bahrain within the last month, amid growing tensions in the Persian Gulf, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the intrusions "rose above the normal level of Iranian cyber activity in the region."
Among the agencies that were allegedly breached by Iran was Bahrain's National Security Agency, the kingdom's interior ministry, and the first deputy prime minister's office. Bahrain's Electricity and Water Authority was also hit when hackers shut down several systems in what the authorities believed was a test meant to demonstrate Iran's ability to disrupt critical infrastructure in the tiny island country.
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The extent of the damage caused by these cyberattacks is unknown. A spokesperson for Bahrain's Interior Ministry told the WSJ that "robust safeguards are in place to protect Bahrain's interests and essential public services from increasingly sophisticated external cyberattacks."
He noted that "In the first half of 2019, the Information and eGovernment Authority successfully intercepted over 6 million attacks and over 830,000 malicious emails. The attempted attacks did not result in downtime or the disruption of government services," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The report quoted several former US officials as saying that the "breaches appeared broadly similar to two hacks in 2012 that knocked Qatar's natural gas firm RasGas offline and wiped data from computer hard drives belonging to Saudi Arabia's Aramco national oil company, a devastating attack that relied on a powerful virus known as Shamoon."
Bahrain is the smallest country in the Persian Gulf, but it is strategically important because it is the permanent home of the US Navy's 5th Fleet and Navy Central Command. It is closely allied with its much larger neighbor, Saudi Arabia – Iran's regional archfoe.
While Bahraini authorities have not specifically named Iran as the culprit in July's series of cyberattacks, Manama has been provided with intelligence by the US and others suggesting that Iran was the instigator.
Cyber experts believe that Iran has been increasing its malicious cyber activity in the region over the rising tensions in the Gulf and the saber-rattling between the Islamic republic and the US over the former's nuclear program.
Iran has not issued any official response to the allegations. Tehran consistently maintains that is not hacking its neighbors.
The Wall Street Journal noted that Iran's growing cyber aggression has prompted Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – the two most powerful states in the Persian Gulf – to invest tens of millions of dollars to bolster their cyber defenses.
