U.S. President Donald Trump approved a cyber attack against Iranian computer systems as he decided not to retaliate militarily against Iran for shooting down a U.S. drone aircraft last week, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.
The U.S. Cyber Command launched the attack against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Thursday night in an operation planned weeks in advance, two sources said. The attack was coordinated with the U.S. Central Command, which overseas military operations in the Middle East.
The attack is reported to have caused significant damage to Iran’s military command and control systems, and the administration warned industry officials on Saturday to be ready for an Iranian response.
This is the first attack by the Cyber Command since it was raised to full combatant command in May, according to the report.
In recent weeks, Iran has increased its cyber attacks against U.S. targets, including government agencies, and oil and gas companies, according to cyber-security companies CrowdStrike and FireEye, Time magazine reported.
“Both sides are desperate to know what the other side is thinking,” said John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis at FireEye. “You can absolutely expect the regime to be leveraging every tool they have available to reduce the uncertainty about what’s going to happen next, about what the U.S.’s next move will be.”
