It defends critical infrastructure while censoring the information its citizens can access. The government restricts domestic traffic of regime opponents and blocks ideas and information from the West. The regime is allegedly attempting to create a separate Iranian communications network and disable Google services within the country.
Although the regime is generally mum about its operations, it is implicated in serious cyber-attacks, including attacks against several leading U.S. banks.
Iran will quickly become “a significant player on the cyberspace battlefield,” says cyberwarfare expert Dr. Gabi Siboni, who is head of the Military and Strategic Affairs Program and the Cyber Warfare Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University in Israel. He gave an overview of Iran’s intentions and capabilities in a talk at the Elliott School of International Affairs–George Washington University on April 10.