A Washington-based think tank has admitted that after the 2010 Stuxnet cyber attack, aimed at damaging Iran’s nuclear power plants, Tehran has become far more aware of any future digital threats.
Speaking at the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, an event in the American capital on Friday, policy makers, intelligence analysts and journalists pointed to Iran’s current cyber protection abilities compared to prior to the Israeli ordained digital attack.
Iran has vastly ramped up its cyber capabilities transforming itself from a “Tier 3” country to one in the years following a massive cyber attack on its nuclear facilities, one panelist said at the Atlantic Council April 8.
The analysts also mentioned that because of the Stuxnet Virus, the Iranian government seriously overhauled its digital defenses so as to not be attacked in the same way again.
“We have learned from Stuxnet that there are consequences to our actions and that we should be very careful before we attack the infrastructure of other countries because they have an ability to respond,” said Barbara Slavin, Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center.
“Iran’s response to Stuxnet cost millions of dollars to our financial sector and presumably they could wreak worse havoc if provoked.”
The panel freely admitted that Iran’s online security systems in recent years have been on a par with those of the United States, but noted that since the election of President Hassan Rouhani, media emphasis on the use of cyber defense as an active policy has taken a back seat due to negotiations between Iran and the world powers over Iran’s nuclear power program.
