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Google expert assesses a “heightened likelihood” of Iranian hacktivists targeting Australian organisations in the wake of the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador.
Google’s Threat Intelligence Group has said there is an increased chance of pro-Iran hacktivists and other groups targeting Australian organisations following the Australian government’s decision to expel Iran’s ambassador following revelations of Iranian involvement in two attacks on Australia’s Jewish community.
“Following the government’s statement alleging direct Iranian involvement in a Melbourne synagogue attack, we assess a heightened likelihood of Iran-aligned hacktivist campaigns against Australian targets,” Andrew Aston, Threat Intelligence Lead for ANZ at Google’s Threat Intelligence Group, told Cyber Daily.
Aston said that Australian entities should expect an uptick in opportunistic DDoS attacks, website defacements, and “data-leak theatrics” – all aimed at making headlines out of proportion to their impact.
“These campaigns frequently blend cyber actions with influence operations to push coordinated narratives. Australian organisations should raise their alerting, drill their playbooks, and harden public-facing assets now.”
Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, alongside the Director General of ASIO, Mike Burgess, revealed yesterday that the nation’s intelligence agency had gathered “credible intelligence” that linked Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with a pair of attacks targeting Australia’s Jewish community in 2024.
“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” Albanese told the media on August 26.
“They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community. It is totally unacceptable.”
Burgess added that ASIO believed the IRGC was possibly behind other incidents of antisemitism in the country.
“It goes without saying that Iran’s actions are unacceptable. They put lives at risk, they terrified the community, and they tore at our social fabric,” Burgess said.
“Iran and its proxies lit the matches and fanned the flames.”
According to ASIO, the IRGC worked through a “layer cake of cut-outs” involving paid intermediaries in Australia, who ultimately hired the individuals behind attacks on Lewis’s Continental Kitchen in Sydney and the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne.
In the wake of the revelations, the government recognised the IRGC as a terrorist organisation and expelled Iran’s ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, who is now considered “persona non grata” and has seven days to leave the country.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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