Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says Iran is trying to silence the current wave of protests by Persian-language media based outside the country, which are a major source of news and information for Iranians inside the country:
Iranian's visiting Armenia's capital, Yerevan, spoke on January 5 about the series of anti-establishment protests across Iran in the past week.
Report Says Cyberweapons Now Central Part Of Iranian Authorities' Offensive Capabilities
By RFE/RL
WASHINGTON -- A new report by the Carnegie Endowment says Iran’s cyberoperations have become increasingly sophisticated and damaging to its adversaries, and are now a prime policy tool for its security agencies.
The report, released on January 4, said Tehran has used offensive cyberoperations to influence regional affairs, thwart opponents and rivals like Saudi Arabia and the United States, and conduct espionage.
“Iran has demonstrated how militarily weaker countries can use [cybertools] to contend with more advanced adversaries,” the report said.
Much of Iran’s cybercapability is homegrown, the report said, and is frequently guided by the country’s main security organizations -- the Ministry of Intelligence and the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Tehran has become increasingly adept at conducting cyber espionage and disruptive attacks against opponents at home and abroad, ranging from Iranian civil society organizations to governmental and commercial institutions in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States,” the report said.
http://carnegieendowment.org/2018/01/04/iran-s-cyber-threat-espionage-sabotage-and-revenge-pub-75134
Over the past decade, offensive cyberoperations have become a core tool of Iranian statecraft, for the purposes of "espionage, signaling, and coercion,” it said.
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