We had told the media
We warned about the dangers of cyberattacks on the systems of various Iranian institutions, and in fact, the widespread attacks that have now become newsworthy had occurred long before our warnings. Nevertheless, for similar events, which unfortunately can be expected to happen again, we say that we had told the media. Especially in a political structure like Iran, we have influence only to this extent. However, the news about the ransom payments to hackers known as IRLeaks quickly spread in American and European media. The reflection of this news, contrary to expectations, was not limited to merely presenting the news. Politico, in a detailed article, described the ransoms paid by various institutions to the hackers, providing a precise description of the number of financial institutions attacked and interesting information about the amount of ransom paid and dealings with the extortionists. One important point here is the new perspective of Western analysts on the state of the financial and credit structure of financial institutions and, more generally, the state of Iran’s economy and finance. In this regard, it should be mentioned that the relative power and authority of credit institutions and naturally various companies and businesses is not solely for receiving, paying, investing, and profitability. Part of the requirements of managing companies and institutions is to deal with risks and threats that seem unrelated to the nature of these institutions’ activities. This is the nature of managing any business and has existed in the history of human economic activity. Modern threats to businesses are also part of the nature of modern trade and business. Updating protective systems against cyberattacks requires at least two important factors: one is the financial capability to invest in this area, and the other is access to the latest software and hardware needed. A significant portion of this software can apparently be obtained with a simple download, while countering cyberattacks is a comprehensive program that is only possible through interaction and collaboration with international institutions. No institution and no government entity responsible for countering cyberattacks operates in isolation and without collaboration with other countries, institutions, and global businesses. Insisting on being sanctioned and isolated enriches the sanction traders and displaying independence and self-sufficiency in this area is essentially depriving oneself of the latest data and achievements in countering cyberattacks. The key and very urgent point that Irangate had previously clearly warned about is the dire threats facing Iranian citizens with the theft of personal information of Iranians in successive hacking processes of various institutions and companies. The provision of Iranian citizens’ data banks on the dark web may seem inevitable. A special structure must be formed to address this enormous threat, which is different from all the pre-existing structures regarding cybersecurity and dealing with crimes in this field.