We had told the media
We warned about the dangers of cyber attacks on the systems of various Iranian institutions, and in fact, the widespread attacks that have now made headlines occurred long before our warnings. However, for similar events that, 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. Nevertheless, the news about the ransom paid to hackers known as IRLeaks quickly spread in the media in the US and Europe, and contrary to expectations, the coverage of this news was not limited to just reporting. Politico, in a detailed article, described the ransoms paid by various institutions to the hackers, providing an accurate account of the number of financial institutions attacked, the amount of ransom paid, and the dealings with the extortionists, offering interesting insights. One of the important points in this regard is the new perspective of Western analysts on the financial and credit structure of financial institutions and, more broadly, the state of Iran’s economy and finance. It should be noted that the relative power and authority of credit institutions and naturally various companies and businesses are not just for receiving, paying, investing, and profitability. Part of the requirements for managing companies and institutions is dealing with risks and threats seemingly unrelated to the nature of these institutions’ activities. This is the nature of managing any business, and it has existed throughout 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 cyber attacks requires at least two important factors: one is the financial capability to invest in this area, and the other is access to the latest necessary software and hardware. A significant portion of this software can apparently be obtained with a simple download, while the field of combating cyber attacks is a broad program that is only possible through interaction and collaboration with international institutions. No institution or government entity responsible for countering cyber attacks operates in isolation and without consultation with other countries and global institutions and businesses. Insisting on being sanctioned and isolated enriches the profiteers of sanctions and displaying independence and self-sufficiency in this field is, in fact, depriving oneself of the latest data and achievements in the field of combating cyber attacks. The key and very urgent point that Irangate had previously warned about explicitly is the serious threats that Iranian citizens face with the theft of personal information of Iranians in successive hacking processes of various institutions and companies. The provision of Iranian citizens’ data banks in the dark web seems almost certain. A special structure must be formed to address this immense danger, which should be different from all the existing structures regarding cybersecurity and dealing with crimes in this domain.