The United States Carries Out Cyber Attack on Iranian Warship
In a recent development, the United States carried out a cyber attack on an Iranian warship believed to be involved in the collection and transfer of intelligence on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, specifically aiding Houthi militants.
The cyber attack took place on February 2 as a response to a drone attack organized by Iranian militias in Iraq, resulting in the deaths of three American soldiers at a remote base in Jordan, with dozens more injured. This information was disclosed by an anonymous military official from the United States, as reported here.
For several weeks, US experts had suspected that the MV Behshad vessel, located near the African port of Djibouti, was gathering intelligence on ships in the region and passing it on to the Iranian Houthis. It was discovered that the Houthis were using this information to carry out missile strikes and drone attacks on sea vessels.
While Iranian officials deny the accusations, the Houthis claim that their actions were in support of the Palestinians and as a response to Israeli attacks in Gaza. The purpose of the cyber attack was to disrupt the Iranian ship’s ability to exchange information with the Houthis; however, the US military did not disclose specific details of the mission.
In a related incident on February 11, a hacker group known as “Storm” from Bahrain successfully carried out a cyber attack on the onboard systems of ships belonging to the United States’ 5th Fleet. The hackers claimed to have gained access to confidential documents of the US military, including sensitive photographs and detailed plans of the US military base in Bahrain.