\n<\/p>\n
Lukasz Olejnik, a visiting senior research fellow of the Department of War Studies at King\u2019s College London, said the Iranian decision to avoid connected kit signals \u201cdeep concern\u201d that ordinary devices can be hacked and tampered with. \u201cIt suggests Tehran fears adversaries can use connected devices to track, intercept, or even target key officials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Israel has used connected devices to kill individuals in the past. Last September, it used explosive pagers<\/a> to hit Hezbollah targets, injuring nearly 3,000 people \u2014 a sophisticated and carefully orchestrated attack in which Israeli security services hit the Lebanon-based terrorist group by simultaneously triggering minute quantities of explosive hidden in thousands of modified hand-held devices distributed among Hezbollah operatives.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael is definitely a cyber superpower,\u201d said<\/a> Matt Pearl, former director for emerging technologies at the National Security Council during the Biden administration. \u201cI would put it, in many ways, in the category of the U.S. or [China], although smaller, just in terms of its overall capabilities.” <\/p>\n Both Iran and Israel are powerful cybersecurity actors. Experts said that cyber disruption and espionage operations are often conducted in the background of direct military clashes.<\/p>\n Tel Aviv has a skilled cyber talent pool and close-knit relations between the government and the private sector. It is\u00a0also considered to have stronger cyber capabilities<\/a> and advanced technology, enabiling more sophisticated digital attacks.<\/p>\n While Iran is considered a major rival power to Western countries \u2014 alongside China, North Korea and Russia \u2014 its cyber operations are primarily focused on espionage rather than disruption.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s nuclear program has also been the target of one of the most infamous cyberoffensive operations in history: The\u00a0U.S. and Israel were reportedly behind the Stuxnet malware<\/a> attack that significantly damaged the country\u2019s nuclear efforts in 2010.<\/p>\n Sam Clark contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n