The Canadian government has classified the Iranian regime as a major cyber threat alongside Russia and China, citing its increasing digital operations against Western nations. In its recent National Cyber Threat Assessment, Canada highlighted, “Iran has an aggressive cyber program that the regime uses to coerce, harass, and repress Iran’s opponents while managing escalation risks.”
The assessment detailed how Iran’s cyber capabilities have evolved through persistent confrontations with regional adversaries, enabling it to conduct “disruptive cyber-attacks beyond the Middle East.” The report further noted, “Iranian cyber threat actors have performed denial of service attacks, attempted to manipulate industrial control systems, and accessed government and private networks to encrypt, wipe, and leak data.”
Canada’s intelligence community warned that Iranian state-sponsored actors likely possess access to Canadian computer networks, including critical infrastructure, posing a significant risk. The report stated, “Iran’s increasing willingness to conduct disruptive cyber-attacks beyond the Middle East, and its persistent efforts to track and monitor regime opponents through cyberspace, present a growing cyber security challenge for Canada and our allies.”
Iran’s Cyber Army: A Force of Disinformation for a Cursed Causehttps://t.co/S3LusEN4HB
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 26, 2023
Moreover, Iran’s use of social engineering has raised concerns over its targeting of political activists, journalists, and members of the Iranian diaspora. The report elaborated that these methods often involve “fake personas” and “spear phishing to support Iran’s transnational repression and surveillance activities.”
Tehran’s cyber operations are not just technical but extend to information campaigns designed to obscure Tehran’s direct involvement. This includes creating networks of hacktivist personas and social media channels to amplify the regime’s narratives while maintaining plausible deniability. Additionally, the regime has targeted various global sectors, including aerospace, defense, energy, telecommunications, and government networks, in pursuit of its intelligence-gathering needs. This complex use of cyber tools allows the clerical regime in Iran to conduct repression beyond its borders, impacting opposition figures and dissidents in Western nations.
With the Iranian regime’s capabilities expanding, officials in Canada and allied nations are monitoring the situation closely to prevent further escalations and protect critical assets from Tehran’s aggressive cyber strategies.
Ruhollah Mo'men Nasab, parliamentary special advisor on the so-called "internet users projection bill" and former commander of the cyber army reveals how #Tehran has been using @Twitter for #propaganda.
#Iran #InternetFreedom pic.twitter.com/kHzjtlEFvR— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 29, 2022