Cyberattack targets Iranian state-owned steel company

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One of the Islamic Republic of Iran's biggest steel manufacturing companies, Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC), was forced to halt production due to a cyberattack targeting it, KSC said Monday, marking one of the biggest cyberspace offensives against the country's industrial sector in years.

The state-owned Khuzestan Steel Company said experts had determined the plant had to stop work until further notice "due to technical problems" following cyberattacks. The company's website was down on Monday.

Khuzestan Steel managed to thwart the cyberattack and prevent structural damage to production lines that would impact supply chains and customers, KSC CEO Emin Ebrahimi said.

"Fortunately with time and awareness, the attack was unsuccessful," the Mehr news agency quoted Ebrahimi as saying. He expected the company's website to be restored and everything to return to normal by the end of Monday, Mehr added.

Another local media outlet reported that the attack had failed due to the factory being non-operational at the time of the offensive due to a power outage.

KSC did not cast the blame for the cyberattack on any party.

Iran has long been subjected to cyber attacks that targeted its vital industries, such as its fuel distribution networks, train stations, and several key infrastructure facilities.

The United States and the Israeli occupation had been blamed for the cyber attacks on Iran in the past, as "Tel Aviv" had admitted, itself, to sabotaging nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic.

Read: Israeli Media: Iran-Based Hacker Group Exposed

A major incident last year saw a cyberattack on Iran's fuel distribution that paralyzed gas stations across the country.

Train stations had been attacked using fake delay messages, surveillance cameras had been hacked, and state-run websites had been disrupted using DDoS attacks.