Cyberattack forces Iran steel company to halt production

One of Iran’s major steel companies says it was forced to halt production after being hit by a cyberattack

One of Iran’s major steel companies said on Monday it was forced to halt production after being hit by a cyberattack, apparently marking one of the biggest such assaults on the country’s strategic industrial sector in recent memory.

The state-owned Khuzestan Steel Company said experts had determined the plant had to stop work until further notice “due to technical problems” following “cyberattacks.” The company’s website was down on Monday.

The company’s CEO, Amin Ebrahimi, claimed that Khuzestan Steel managed to thwart the cyberattack and prevent structural damage to production lines that would impact supply chains and customers.

“Fortunately with time and awareness, the attack was unsuccessful,” the semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted Ebrahimi as saying, adding that he expected the company’s website to be restored and everything to return to “normal” by the end of Monday.

A local news channel, Jamaran, reported that the attack failed because the factory happened to be non-operational at the time due to an electricity outage.

The company did not blame any specific group for the assault, which constitutes just the latest example of an attack targeting the country’s services that has embarrassed authorities in recent weeks. In a major incident last year, a cyberattack on Iran’s fuel distribution system paralyzed gas stations across the country, leading to long lines of angry motorists.

Train stations in Iran have been hit with fake delay messages. Surveillance cameras in the country have been hacked. State-run websites have been disrupted. Footage showing abuse in the country’s notorious Evin prison has leaked out.