EAST KURDISTAN (IRAN) MESOP NEWS INTEL COMMENTARIES (CIPHER BRIEF) – 30 Jan 2018 – Hezbollah Goes on the Cyber Offensive With Iran’s Help
Hezbollah’s hackers are quickly learning the art of cyber warfare…with a little help from Iran. • Under Tehran’s tutelage, the formidable militant organization is increasingly turning its attention to the digital realm to engage in espionage, psychological operations, disruption of critical services and criminal activity to fund its activities on the ground.
- Hezbollah has been an “early adopter” of media strategies and has long used the internet as a means to disseminate recruitment messaging, propaganda and operational know-how. More recently, however, the group has also begun leveraging cyberspace as an attack vector to gain valuable intelligence and hold its adversaries—especially Israel—at risk.
- Despite Hezbollah’s growing cyber capabilities, the group does not present as much of a disruptive cyber threat to its adversaries as a nation-state such as Iran does.
Read the full brief, with expert commentary from:
– Rhea Siers, former Deputy Associate Director for Policy, NSA
– Michael Eisenstadt, Director of Military and Security Studies, Washington Institute for Near East Policy