The war between Israel and Iran has reached a stalemate. Iranian TV even announced that there will be a surprise tonight that will be remembered by the world for centuries. Recently, Iran's Bank Sepah suffered a cyber attack, and its online services were interrupted and data was destroyed. Iran's centralized cryptocurrency exchange Nobitex was also hacked for more than $81.5 million. The Israeli-related hacker group Gonjeshke Darande came forward to admit to launching these two attacks. It also makes people think about the extent to which holding cryptocurrencies can be used as a hedge in Taiwan, which is also facing the crisis of information warfare.
Israeli hacker Gonjeshke Darande paralyzed Iran's banking system
Iran's first bank, Bank Sepah, was hit by a cyberattack on Tuesday, which disrupted its online services and destroyed its data, the Times of Israel reported. Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency said some gas stations in Iran that rely on the Sepah system to process transactions have experienced problems. Although a spokesman for the Central Bank of Iran told the state-run Iranian News Agency (IRNA) that all banking operations were operating smoothly, opposition media (Iran International) reported that several branches of Bank Sepah were closed on Tuesday and customers were unable to log into their accounts.
The Israeli-linked hacker group Gonjeshke Darande (Predatory Sparrows) claimed responsibility for the cyberattack, saying on Twitter: "Bank Sepa is an institution that circumvents international sanctions and uses the Iranian people's money to finance terrorist proxies, ballistic missile programs, and military nuclear programs." The statement added: "Thanks to the brave Iranians who helped make this operation possible."
The report pointed out that due to Iran's long-term sanctions from the West, it is difficult to obtain the latest hardware and software, and it relies on Chinese-made electronic products or old systems for which the original manufacturers no longer provide patches, making Iran the number one target for hackers.
More than $81.5 million stolen from Iranian exchanges
On the afternoon of the 18th, Taiwan time, the Iranian centralized exchange Nobitex admitted that it had been stolen. The statement said that the exchange's technical team detected unauthorized transactions in some hot wallets, but only affected some hot wallet assets. Nobitex took full responsibility for the incident and assured users that all losses would be compensated. The website and application are temporarily unavailable until a full audit is completed.
Chain detective ZachXBT also stated in his personal channel that the amount stolen from Nobitex was as high as 81.7 million US dollars. Tron's TKFuckiRGCTerroristsNoBiTEXy2r7mNX and EVM's 0xffFFfFFffFFFFFfFFFFFfFFFFFfFFFFFFFFFDead are both hacker addresses.
Gonjeshke Darande also admitted to launching the attack. The organization said that Nobitex exchange is the core of the Iranian regime's global terrorist activities and uses centralized exchanges to circumvent international sanctions. Nobitex did not even bother to play a trick, and clearly admitted on its website that it circumvented international sanctions. Because the Iranian regime is highly dependent on it, working at Nobitex is even considered an alternative to serving in the Iranian military. The organization threatened to release the Nobitex source code and its internal information within 24 hours.
Information warfare has become a modern battlefield. Can holding cryptocurrencies provide a hedge?
The form of modern warfare has changed greatly. It is not only a war of weapons on land, sea and air, but also an information war on the Internet has become the mainstream. A special study by the Ministry of National Defense pointed out that the US military used information warfare to attack and paralyze the command and control system of the Iraqi army in the Gulf War. The Iraqi army was in a state of chaos and even paralysis from the first day of the war.
In Taiwan, which is also facing the pressure of war, many people hold cryptocurrencies for risk aversion. The Sepa Bank incident shows that centralized systems are likely to be completely paralyzed when facing information warfare. The decentralized nature of blockchain is theoretically more robust, and it requires the control of a large number of nodes to tamper with data.
However, it should be noted that many new generation public chains are not so decentralized, and many nodes are controlled by the same group of people. In extreme cases, there may be risks of malicious behavior, so Bitcoin, Ethereum and other old public chains may be safer options. For Taiwanese people, many public chains are Chinese teams, and how the blockchain will be controlled in the event of a war across the Taiwan Strait is also one of the risks.
On the other hand, the case of Nobitex being hacked by Israeli hackers also shows that if you want to hold cryptocurrencies for risk hedging, you must move your assets to the chain. Thefts from centralized exchanges are common.
This article Iran's banking system and cryptocurrency exchanges are completely paralyzed! If the Taiwan Strait encounters an information war, can holding Bitcoin be a hedge? It first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.
