Since the unspeakable horrors of October 7, when Hamas operatives—armed, trained, and emboldened by the Islamic Republic of Iran—unleashed a massacre that stunned the civilised world, Tehran has escalated its warfare in the shadows. The battleground is no longer confined to the physical but extends to the digital realm. Cyberattacks, orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its network of proxies, have surged against both Israel and Jewish communities across the globe. This is not mere happenstance but a calculated strategy—a continuation of the regime’s longstanding mission to destabilise and intimidate.
Iran’s cyber war, increasingly brazen and sophisticated, is a tool of asymmetric warfare aimed at undermining Israel’s security and spreading unease across the Jewish diaspora. If ignored or downplayed, this digital offensive risks not only significant disruption but also the creation of very real physical dangers. The threat is not abstract; it is here, and it demands our attention.
The regime has, and that for decades, sought to export its revolutionary ideology through subversion and violence. But now, in the 21st century, its ambitions extend to cyberspace. The IRGC and its allied hacker groups—well-funded and ideologically driven—have launched a series of cyberattacks targeting Israeli government agencies, infrastructure, and financial systems. From Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks to ransomware and phishing campaigns, these actions aim to cripple systems and instil fear.
The implications, however, extend far beyond Israel’s borders. Jewish organisations and communities in Europe, North America, and beyond have found themselves under siege, with cyber intrusions aimed at extracting sensitive information, disrupting operations, and sowing chaos. These attacks, while often targeting systems, are intended to erode trust, heighten vulnerability, and even provoke physical threats by exposing personal data.
Unlike Israel, with its world-leading cybersecurity infrastructure, Jewish communities abroad often lack the resources to defend themselves against state-sponsored cyberattacks. This disparity has made them attractive targets for Tehran’s digital saboteurs. In October, a ransomware attack was attempted against a Jewish community organisation in Europe, which, had it succeeded, would have paralysed its operations and exposed sensitive member data. While thwarted, the incident highlighted just how real the threat has become.
The goal is clear: Iran seeks to intimidate and isolate Jewish communities, portraying them as inseparably tied to Israel and, therefore, as legitimate targets of its ideological war. By hacking membership lists or infiltrating communications, Tehran’s proxies can amplify paranoia and mistrust, creating divisions within communities and between them and their host nations.
This cyber onslaught is not merely about disruption; it is part of Iran’s broader propaganda effort. By framing its cyberattacks as part of a “resistance” campaign, Tehran hopes to legitimise its actions in the eyes of its supporters. Disturbingly, some elements in the West—whether through ignorance or wilful complicity—continue to echo this rhetoric. Every slogan shouted in support of Hamas, every blind eye turned to Iran’s human rights abuses, feeds the regime’s delusion that its cyber warfare, like its physical violence, can proceed with impunity.
The implications are grave. As Tehran exports its digital aggression, the narrative it constructs finds fertile ground in public discourse, masking the regime’s true intentions and obscuring the real victims: the Jewish communities targeted by its campaigns.
