Iran’s internet blackout extends into second week: NetBlocks

Iran is under a near-total internet blackout, data tracking site NetBlocks said on Saturday.

“A full week has passed since then #Iranian NetBlocks plunged into digital darkness due to regime-imposed national internet blackout in question in a social media post.

“The measure remains in effect at the 168th hour, leaving the public isolated without vital updates and warnings while authorities and state media continue to have access,” NetBlocks said. he said.

A chart in the post showed internet traffic at about 1% of normal levels.

US and Israeli air strikes on Iran continued on Saturday, a week after they launched their joint campaign to rid Tehran of its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities while also pressing for regime change.

Iran has shut down the internet in the past during periods of social unrest. A similar near-blackout was imposed for several weeks in January, amid widespread protests across the country.

But some analysts said additional factors may have contributed to the internet outage.

“While the actual cause is still unclear, it is almost certainly a combination of both state-ordered suppression and external cyber disruptions,” Kathryn Raines, cyber threat intelligence team leader at intelligence platform Flashpoint, told CNBC earlier this week.

Iran has not officially commented on the outage.

Analysts say the lack of internet connectivity in Iran will further increase the fog of war, with citizens in the region unable to communicate with their families, document events or receive real-time updates on the conflict.

Cybersecurity firms have warned that Iran could also respond with cyberattacks carried out directly by the government or its proxy groups.

In a statement shared with CNBC, CrowdStrike’s head of counterattack operations, Adam Meyers, said the firm was “already seeing activity consistent with reconnaissance and attempts by threat actors and hacktivist groups affiliated with Iran.” [denial-of-service] attacking.”

— Dylan Butts contributed to this story.