Today’s English-Development Blog (EDB) is about Iran that says petrol stations around the country are unable to supply customers with gas which is leaving motorists queued in long lines and angry.
The government-supplied electronic cards for subsidized fuel have been rendered useless. No group have taken responsibility for the cyberattack that has crippled the petrol pumps.
Amid growing Mideast tensions and US sanctions, the cyberattack is another blow to the economy, and even more so as Iran has yet to jointly re-enter Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
According to the semiofficial ISNA news agency who called the incident a cyberattack, they said people trying to buy fuel with government-supplied cards were neglected by the machines that read “cyberattack 64411.”
National TV said that Oil Ministry officials were holding an “emergency meeting” to unravel what was going on while trying to resolve it. On a positive note, those petrol stations that only accept cash could operate and continue pumping gas to car owners.
Israeli cybersecurity say number “64411” copied a group called Indra that attacked Iran’s railroad system in July using the same figures. In fact, Indra has previously targeted firms in Syria, the country where President Bashar Assad has held onto power throughout the country’s unending war.
As a final note, it is considered a birthright for Iranians to get cheap petrol, as Iran is home to the World’s fourth-largest oil reserve.
Written by Carl Boniface
Tidbits:
1. A group has, or (have) because it is a group of people.
2. Gas (US), Petrol (UK)