Iran complains of cyberterrorism

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TEHRAN, June 20 (UPI) -- Iranian officials said Wednesday they had lodged a complaint with international authorities about what it described as state-sponsored cyberterrorism.

Iranian Communication and Information Technology Minister Reza Taqipour said cyberattacks used to be the domain of civilian hackers. Now, he stressed, it's something pursued as an act of digital warfare.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has complained to international bodies over state-sponsored cyberattacks (against the country)," he was quoted by Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV as saying.

The Stuxnet computer virus disrupted more than 10 percent of Iranian nuclear centrifuges. Stuxnet works by targeting the speed at which specific components in the centrifuge works, causing problems with the rotational speed.

The Iranian National Computer Emergency Response Team recently distributed software to protect against a type of malware dubbed Flame. Iran in April unplugged computer servers from an oil terminal at Kharq Island following a virus outbreak believed to have been caused by the malware.

Taqipour said the cyberattacks were launched by Israel and its Western allies. He didn't specify to which agency Tehran filed its complaint.