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Iran Checks Cybersecurity at Key Energy Sites, Eyes US Threat

Reuters

   DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Iran has launched an inspectionof
   security at its key Persian Gulf oil and gas facilities,
   includingpreparedness for cyberattacks, the Oil Ministry news
   agencySHANA said, following media reports of Washington
   weighingpossiblecyberattackson Tehran.

   U.S. media reports have said the United States isconsidering possible
   cyberattacks against Iran after the Sept.14 attacks on Saudi oil sites
   that U.S. officials have blamedon Tehran. The Islamic republic has
   denied being behind theraids, which were claimed by Yemen's
   Iran-aligned Houthi group.

   PirouzMousavi, head of the Pars Special Economic EnergyZone (PSEEZ),
   inspected the area and met with senior managers,including those in
   charge of cybersecurity and emergencyresponse, SHANA said Wednesday.

   The PSEEZ was set up in 1998 to develop the oil and gasresources in the
   South Pars field, the world's largest naturalgas reservoir. The
   offshore field is shared between Iran andQatar, which calls it North
   Field.

   Separately,GholamrezaJalali, head of civil defense, whichis in charge
   ofcybersecurity, called for beefing up securityat industrial
   installations. "Our enemies consider thecyber domain as one of the main
   areas of threat against nations,especially Iran," the semiofficial news
   agency Fars quoted Jalali as saying.

   After reports on social media last Friday of a cyberattackon some
   petrochemical and other companies in Iran, a state bodyin charge of
   cybersecurity denied there had been a successfulattack.

   NetBlocks, an organization that monitors internetconnectivity, earlier
   reported "intermittent disruptions" tosome internetservices inIran.

   Iran said in June that U.S. cyberattacks against Iranian targetshad not
   been successful, after reports the Pentagon had launchedacyberattackto
   disable the country's rocket launch systemsfollowing the downing of a
   U.S. military drone.

   Iran has long been on alert over the threat of cyberattacksby foreign
   countries. The United States and Israel covertlysabotaged Iran's
   nuclear program in 2009 and 2010 with thenow-famous Stuxnet computer
   virus, which destroyed Iraniancentrifuges that were enriching uranium.

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