Iran wants to attack American hi-tech companies in the Middle East

The Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, published a list of major American technology companies in a social media post on Tuesday, which included Amazon, Microsoft, Palantir and Oracle, with the caption: “The enemy’s technological infrastructure: Iran’s new targets in the region.”

Iranian drone strikes have already hit data centers in the region and Amazon facilities in two countries last week.

The list published by Tasnim was accompanied by the threat that “with the expansion of the regional dimensions of the war to infrastructure, cyber warfare and scope, Iran’s legitimate objectives are gradually expanding.”

The companies mentioned have offices, research and development centers, data centers and cloud infrastructure throughout the Middle East, including in the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Bahrain.

“As it stands, the Iranian terrorist regime has been completely crushed. The United States is meeting all targets – Iranian ballistic missile attacks are down 90 percent and drone strikes are down 83 percent,” she added.

Last week Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud platform, said that Iranian drone strikes hit two of its facilities in the United Arab Emirates, while another drone landed near its facility in Bahrain, causing damage to some of its infrastructure.

“These vulnerabilities caused structural damage, disrupted the electricity supply to our infrastructure, and in some cases required firefighting operations that caused additional water damage. We work in close cooperation with the local authorities and prioritize the safety of our staff throughout our rescue efforts,” the company said.

The company said Thursday that it had “no indication of malware or ransomware and we believe the situation is limited to Microsoft’s internal environment.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the logo of the Iran-linked hacker group Handala appeared on Stryker’s login pages.

“All of their groups, whether they’re directly related to the military or intelligence or their emissaries, the activists, supporters, whatever you call them, they’re all targeted,” Krebs told CBS Mornings Thursday.

The cyber company Palo Alto Networks states in its profile on “Handala” that the group is directly related to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and that it carries out “cyber operations against the Israeli political and security establishment.”