Iran Recruits Students for Cyber War

Iran Recruits Students for Cyber War

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By Dana Yarketchy

25850184_m  featureIranian media quoted Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who said that Iranian students must be ready to participate in a future cyber war. According to the Maher news agency Khamenei, in a message to the national student union, called students “officers of the soft war”, and asked them to be prepared to do their part.

In his message the Iranian leader asked the students to study the governments of the western powers, to analyze their goals and secret strategies, and to use all their power in order to foil their schemes. Khamenei asked the students to keep their faith and to avoid making false idols out of their organizations.

IHLS – Israel Homeland Security

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A few months ago Khamenei warned against cultural aggression and said that freedom of information and net neutrality in Iran are a serious challenge for ruling conservatives, with institutions promoting them acting as opposition. Even so, some websites belonging to conservatives or to the revolutionary guard called for Iran’s leadership to adopt more effective net practices in the Iranian cyberspace, in order to better protect the republic.

Over the past few years Iran claims to have been the victim of frequent cyber attacks. In 2010 cyber experts announced that the Bushar nuclear plant was attacked. In 2012 Iranians reported other attacks, carried out by the “flame” malware, one of the most sophisticated and dangerous malicious codes discovered so far. Iran has been investing a lot of time and effort into what it refers to as the “cyber war” effort.

One of the leaders of the revolutionary guard announced that two cyber war centers have been established in Tehran. The leader, Hussein Hamdani, added that the national cyber council has recruited more than 1,500 “cyber warrios”.