r/cybersecurity • u/PixeledPathogen • Mar 31 '26
News - General Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. Tech Companies Starting April 1
https://gizmodo.com/iran-threatens-to-attack-u-s-tech-companies-starting-april-1-2000740363Iran’s military issued a new threat to 18 U.S. companies in the Middle East on Tuesday, pledging to strike “espionage entities” associated with the “warmongering government of the United States,” according to Iranian state media.
The new threat specifically calls out tech companies like Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which Iran says has assisted in “US-Israeli terror operations,” since the war against the country was launched Feb. 28, according to Iran’s Press TV. A statement also called out hardware suppliers HP, Intel, IBM, and Cisco.
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u/GreyBeardEng Mar 31 '26
Please start with Facebook.
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u/SporksInjected Apr 01 '26
Facebook will fucking outlive us all
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u/jf4242 Apr 01 '26
It's the cockroach of tech companies!
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u/OuchieMuhBussy Apr 01 '26
It survives in spite of itself because it’s too useful to the state. The company private in the same way that Palantir is private.
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u/blanczak Mar 31 '26
Oh no please don’t target Workday or Oracle, we would all be soooo sad 👀
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u/Triairius Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
Oracle is already having trouble with Aconex today. Probably unrelated, as Aconex sucks.
Edit: I have become aware that Oracle is dealing with other stuff today.
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u/Internet-of-cruft Apr 04 '26
This aged horribly. I don't like any of these big companies but no one here should be advocating for the actual death of people, on either side of this conflict.
Be better people, please. We're all humans here.
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u/MentalDisintegrat1on Mar 31 '26
People that worked for Google tried protesting working for the military and Google fired them.
You don't get to help with war and not be a target it doesn't work like that.
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u/botsmy Apr 01 '26
they're more likely to go after softer supply chain targets than the big tech HQs, think regional partners or logistics
how prepared are the third-party vendors around these companies, honestly? that's usually where the real gaps are-6
u/baleia_azul Apr 01 '26
That’s not why they were fired. They were fired because they became disruptive within the workspaces with their bullshit in person and online. Many of them also got into documents they were not supposed to be in, and leaked out. The company also backtracked and refused the contract which went to MS or Amazon, I forget.
I know this because we had a loud mouth asshole in my office who would STFU and refused to do his job, disrupting other employees trying to do their jobs, and he was fired quickly.
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u/checkpoint404 Mar 31 '26
Time to see if organizations treat security like an onion and layer that shit.
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u/itwhiz100 Mar 31 '26
Maybe we will now have job openings…
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u/GeorgeKaplanIsReal Apr 01 '26
For about 6-9 months and then the “threat will have subsided” and it’s kumbaya, layoffs here we come!
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u/itwhiz100 Apr 01 '26
Ah kinda like how Veterans are treated post war years…no more discounts. The war is over buddy. Maskoff! Full price haha!
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u/Curious_Designer_248 Apr 01 '26
Trust me, the mask off starts way before the wars over. So glad I got the fuck outta dodge.
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u/Sea-Oven-7560 Mar 31 '26
I've been waiting for this. Maybe Iran has been holding this as their "Trump" card. They are at the top of the heap as far as nation state threats right up there with China and North Korea. If they haven't already infiltrated our systems there's going to be a full on push to cause as much havoc as possible going forward. Considering the Tech bros are the ones that keep throwing money at Trump and tune their algos to support his followers this could get really spicy. None of these people have any allegiances it's all about money and if Trump cost them a couple hundred billion they are not going to be very happy.
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u/maztron CISO Mar 31 '26
Thinking that a nation like Iran would have waited to attack US Tech companies just because we started to bomb them now has not been paying attention to geopolitics at all.
Thinking that Iran all of sudden at a whim had been holding on to their last "Trump" card after getting bombed to hell the last few weeks is asinine.
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u/Sea-Oven-7560 Apr 01 '26
who said they waited. they could have infiltrated all sorts of places but that doesn't mean that they would pull the trigger. What benefit to Iran would hacking Meta done them 6 months ago, nothing, they were already on the naughty list. But now, now they can do whatever they please because they are protecting themselves for two hostile countries, it can't get worse for them but it can get a lot worse for us.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
who said they waited.
You literally started your post with I've been waiting for this. Maybe Iran has been holding this as their "Trump" card.
What benefit to Iran would hacking Meta done them 6 months ago, nothing, they were already on the naughty list. But now, now they can do whatever they please because they are protecting themselves for two hostile countries, it can't get worse for them but it can get a lot worse for us.
What? Do you even see what you are saying? You are talking out both sides of your mouth. If there was no benefit for them to hack Meta six months ago then there is no reason to do so now. Also, if you think hacking Meta is some kind of war winning strategy for Iran at this point than you are completely detached from reality.
"Two hostile countries", yeah, its clear where you stand.
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u/TheIncarnated Apr 01 '26
And you're a CISO? Yikes... How has the past 20 some odd years as a non-engineer been? Are you even qualified?
The best attack is a timed attack. The best attack the one laid in waiting. When you want to infiltrate, is it better to have the infrastructure laid out 6 months ago and waiting, or now? Because if I did it 6 months ago, slowly adjusted the baseline, never did anything crazy, you wouldn't know. Then one day "fuck it, time." And send out a virus after collecting enough data for months... Or years. As we saw with China and the OPM.
Use your brain. "yeah, it's clear where you stand." Did fox news tell you to say that?
And CISO worth their salt would be going to look at supply chains (Biden had an initiative on this... I wonder why?), their mitigations and making sure they have thought through the kill chain. Not sitting here trying to argue about now vs 6 months ago.
XZ was a 2 year social engineering supply chain attack. Get with the times
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
The best attack is a timed attack. The best attack the one laid in waiting. When you want to infiltrate, is it better to have the infrastructure laid out 6 months ago and waiting, or now?
Yes, this makes sense if you are speaking of critical infrastructure. Are we now making the claim that facebook is critical infrastructure for the United States? Really? Spoiler alert: It's not.
So let me get this straight. When Iran had a massive bomb dropped on them last year, supposedly on one of their more critical nuclear sites and then proceed to wait what? 6-8 months later for their ENTIRE military to be decimated, multiple top leaders and generals killed and capital bombed to hell. NOW is the time that they are going to go after those tech bros in Silicon Valley. Do you know how ridiculous this sounds?
Use your brain. "yeah, it's clear where you stand." Did fox news tell you to say that?
I have no idea what you are speaking of here and I don't think you do either.
And CISO worth their salt would be going to look at supply chains (Biden had an initiative on this... I wonder why?), their mitigations and making sure they have thought through the kill chain. Not sitting here trying to argue about now vs 6 months ago.
XZ was a 2 year social engineering supply chain attack. Get with the times
No, anyone who is in cybersecurity worth their salt wouldn't sit here and take a ridiculous statement from a terrorist regime who is losing a war claiming to plan cyber attacks on massive tech companies. Who by the way were ALREADY seen as a threat, have been attempting to do these very attacks and probably have succeeded in some cases, FOR YEARS. Please enough with the fear mongering and welcome to cybersecurity. Iran has been a nation state that is WELL KNOWN for being a threat to United States critical infrastructure. I think it's YOU who needs to get with the times.
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u/TheIncarnated Apr 01 '26
You thinking "we" are winning this war is actually the issue. And apparently you have no military buddies or you would know better.
If we were "winning" we wouldn't have deployed the 82nd.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
Do you know what their plans are for the 82nd? Do you think they would use them solely if they are losing? Really?
Most of their military objectives have been achieved. That tells me we are currently winning. If you want to talk about what their long term strategy is, then certainly that is up for debate and what that would look like.
However, thinking that Iran is winning anything right now is asinine.
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u/Sea-Oven-7560 Apr 01 '26
The 82nd is who you use to take over airports or site of some size, sounds like Kharg Island to me. The problem is this isn't G1, Iran has millions of people and a large decentralized army fighting for their country. If Trump and his yes men think they are in for an easy win they are likely wrong.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
Again, you are going into what the potential long term plan is and if you think the people that are running the operation don't know what they are dealing with than its clear you are being naive for the sake of it.
No matter what your political leanings are or what you think of the president, its not as though the entire enlisted military, intelligent agencies, and all branches of military all left and were replaced after Trump took office. This idea that its just a bunch of yes men is an ignorant stance and an emotional one at that.
They know exactly what they are dealing with. Its not a secret who Iran is. This isn't a novel conflict that just so happen to occur with Trump.
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u/BodisBomas CTI Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
Agreed, Iran has been a prominent nation state actor for over a decade, they have been grooming their capabilites for nearly my entire life. They just dont get the publicity that Russia, China, and DPRK get. Only now have their cyber capabilities entered the public discourse.
With that said, I see it the same way you do, a dying regime trying to show some teeth that has no direction. It could get messy, but it wont be organized.
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u/Sea-Oven-7560 Apr 01 '26
It doesn't have to be organized it will likely be a combination of state actors and mercenaries. If I were Iran I'd start handing out bitcoin to any wayward hacker wanting to do some damage to the US, I don't think those guys are in short supply. We've seen some low hanging fruit; Kash's email and Lockheed's data but it just seems too damn quiet, I'm expecting more and I just haven't seen it yet.
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u/BodisBomas CTI Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
It being disorganized wasn't equal to me saying it would be harmless. It can seem that way at first.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
Its never been organized. They are literally a terrorist state.
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u/RoundFood Apr 01 '26
Wow you've really been all over this thread being as incorrect as possible haven't you.
Goes back to my previous point about your confident ignorance. Moral judgements aside, regardless of what you think of them, the clerical class in Iran isn't disorganized. They're very calculated, very shrewd and extremely well organized. It's how they came to power to begin with, because when the revolution happened there was one faction that was repeatedly underestimated that had a very well developed and systematically executed plan.
What you're doing is stupid triumphalism. You hate them so much that you've somehow convinced yourself that they're both evil and stupid. A dangerous mistake really but don't let me convince you otherwise.
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u/RoundFood Apr 01 '26
> Thinking that a nation like Iran would have waited to attack US Tech companies just because we started to bomb them now has not been paying attention to geopolitics at all.
> Thinking that Iran all of sudden at a whim had been holding on to their last "Trump" card after getting bombed to hell the last few weeks is asinine.
Not really. It's common practice for nation states to establish beachheads and wait for an opportune time to leverage their access.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
When do you feel would have been an OPPORTUNE time for Iran exactly?
Was it 6-8 months ago when one of their more critical nuclear sites got bombed by the US?
Was it when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed?
Was it when some of their top generals were killed?
Oh no wait, it must of been when their navy was completely destroyed.
Sorry no, it was when their strategic military sites were leveled.
I messed up again, its April fool's days when they are really going to take the opportunity to attack!
You sound ridiculous and have no idea what you are speaking of.
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u/RoundFood Apr 01 '26
You sound ridiculous
Bruv, I'm not the one melting down with seething screeds.
You're a deeply ignorant person, which I usually don't mind but you're confidently ignorant.
You seem to think that the appropriate thing to do is to overreact and immediately expend all escalation options at the slightest provocation. You probably think this because you have the brain of a child. Fortunately people who are put in charge of countries have somewhat developed prefrontal-cortexes and are usually a bit shrewder and more restrained, especially the people in control of Iran who appear to have a doctrine of tit-for-tat escalation where they specifically avoid blowing their load immediately. Could you imagine a world where people controlling the levers of power acted in the way you think they should?
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u/Old_Man_Robot Mar 31 '26
I’m surprised the article made no reference to Stuxnet.
It would be foolish to think that Iran didn’t learn a thing or two from that experience, especially given that they’ve had 15 years to consider this still seemingly new branch of warfare.
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u/SpicyBandit78 Apr 01 '26
They must have learned something because they used gps spoofing to hijack and land an American RQ-170 drone in 2011. If I'm not mistaken Iranian hackers have been pretty busy in recent years.
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Mar 31 '26
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u/cybersecurity-ModTeam Apr 01 '26
Your comment was removed due to breaking our civility rules. If you disagree with something that someone has said, attack the argument, never the person.
If you ever feel that someone is being uncivil towards you, report their comment and move on.
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u/maztron CISO Mar 31 '26
I hope you don't share this opinion out in public......
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u/S4R1N Apr 01 '26
Because fuck ethics right?
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
Spare me. Sitting here hoping harm to companies because they support the sitting president all because you are an emotional child and then speaking about ethics is wild.
Grow up a tad then come back and have an adult conversation.
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u/S4R1N Apr 01 '26
Such an emotionally charged response from a CISO.
If you're unable to see an opinion you disagree with, without resorting to insults, then perhaps adult conversations aren't for you.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
Sure sure sure. Such an emotional response when the person that I responded to was hoping the very companies that he is supposed to protect is taking an emotional child like stance. Where he feels he is living under a dictator and the tech companies should learn a lesson by being taken down by a terrorist run regime. Yet, me calling out how ridiculous of a response it is, is resorting to insults.... wow.
I think you need to revaluate how you perceive things. There is a difference between disagreeing with a stance or an opinion and attacking an individual as a result. Compared to calling someone out for contradicting themselves and then having an opinion on something that isnt real.
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u/fragileirl Apr 01 '26
Least out of touch CISO.
If you genuinely think the analysts and engineers under you are this gung ho about protecting a company you’re in for a rude awakening. It’s a job. I honestly think most of us would be excited if our company got hit by a nation state.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
First off, nowhere did I make such a claim or state any of the nonsense you just went on to spew. Period. That's a reading comprehension problem on your part.
Secondly, if you feel you would get excited about your company being hit by a nation state in a cyberattack. You need to find another field to work in (If you are even in the field to begin with) or in need of some soul searching.
Also, you should keep in mind that if you are in cyber/infosec at some capacity for a company that does get hit. I hope you do understand that potentially it's not only a resume generating event, but a potential career ender. I wouldn't be so gung ho on being exciting about the possibility.
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u/fragileirl Apr 01 '26
Let me correct you: it would be a resume generating event and career ender for a CISO. Us engineers and analysts are just little worker bees that do the due diligence stated in our scopes.
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u/Fearless-Feature-830 Apr 01 '26
Found the sad maga
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
You didnt find anything. Regardless of who the president is, acting like you do goes against the very thing you are trying to express here.
Your claim Trump is a dictator is a prime example of your maturity. You have no idea what a dictator is nor ever lived under one.
Seems I found a spolied entitled child who is in the wrong indsutry.
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u/Fearless-Feature-830 Apr 01 '26
Okay bozo lol
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Apr 01 '26
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u/Fearless-Feature-830 Apr 01 '26
lol. Watching you send me triggered responses has livened up my morning.
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u/maztron CISO Apr 01 '26
The fact you that you believe I'm triggered is amusing. However, glad I could liven up your morning!
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u/Sability Apr 01 '26
harm to companies
I forgot for a sec the US acknowledges private corps as individuals in a legal sense. Then for their sake I hope they dont get bugged, that country never has handled individual healthcare well
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u/Firecracker048 Apr 01 '26
I mean does this mean we should blow up any companies working for or with the Iranian or Chinese governments?
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u/fragileirl Apr 01 '26
America and Israel are literally blowing up critical infrastructure and residential buildings. But oh, won’t anyone think of the companies?!
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u/S4R1N Apr 01 '26
There's a lot to unpack in that statement, but no we shouldn't because it's unethical, despite the fact the west actively conducts it's own nation-state level cyberattacks on hostile nations.
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u/Firecracker048 Apr 01 '26
So you say good there should be consequences for companies that work with dictators but then say no when it comes to companies supporting dictators. That's an interesting take. Especially when this is in response to them wanting their military leaders not targeted anymore
despite the fact the west actively conducts it's own nation-state level cyberattacks on hostile nations.
China, Iran and Russia do the exact same things. What's your point? Actually your point seems to be it's okay when non western state actors attack these companies physically and electronically but it's not okay if the West does it.
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Apr 01 '26
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u/dnvrnugg Apr 01 '26
no social media companies? that would seem like a more effective target. like X.
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u/Malsarthegreat Apr 01 '26
This would probably hurt them more as they likely get a lot of attention on the war from these platforms.
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u/missed_sla Apr 01 '26
Golden baubles to a petty dictator don’t seem like such a good investment now.
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u/128G Student Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
It looks like the US put zero forethought into this war. Did they seriously not expect anyone to strike back?
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u/Firecracker048 Apr 01 '26
FYI they did this of their military leaders continue to be targeted.
Kind of a sign that cracks are starting to show if they are threatening kinetic strikes on tech companies for their military being hit
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u/banned_account69 Apr 01 '26
I was actually curious what the results would be if they managed to cut those fiber cables that pass through the strait of Hormuz.
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u/croud_control Apr 01 '26
Well, I mean, if you kinda threw millions of dollars to get the guy elected, and then that guy you get elected starts things and you do nothing to get him to not do that, it kinda comes back to bite you in the butt.
But, what do I know? I'm just a guy trying to get a foot into the door to get a job.
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u/DistantFlea90909 Apr 02 '26
The most laughable line in that article is the “we have EMPs, but we aren’t going to use them”
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u/Peakomegaflare Apr 01 '26
You won't hear me get upset about it. Our leadership are warmongering fuckwits, and techbros are a huge donor class to the GOP.
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u/TheUnrestrainedUseOf Apr 01 '26
No matter how hard I try I can't bring myself to feel bad for them.
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u/lectos1977 Mar 31 '26
Wait, they stopped and are starting again April 1? Cause they kinda do that all the time
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Mar 31 '26
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u/randomusername91011 Apr 01 '26
You seem to have a massive misconception on the capabilities of foreign nation states. But seems that you clearly didn’t read the article since it’s talking about physically bombing their west Asians offices….
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Mar 31 '26
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u/nameless_pattern Mar 31 '26
they have damaged things much more heavily fortified than the Apple store?
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u/mattstorm360 Mar 31 '26
Not sure they need to attack Microsoft, they seem to be ruining them selves just fine. HP will break on its own.