US cyber attack crippled Iranian database used to target Persian Gulf oil tankers

The New York Times claims that the cyber attack was carried out in June after Iran shot down a US surveillance drone

US Cyber Command carried out a "secret" cyber attack against Iran in June in a bid to impair the country's ability to target oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

That's according to a report by the New York Times, which claims that security specialists working for the US government destroyed a critical database used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to track and target ships in the Persian Gulf.

The database helped the Iranian Revolutionary Guards "to choose which tankers to target and where", the report claimed.

Russia, China, Iran and even North Korea would all be able to see how they were penetrated

The report, which the newspaper claims is based on anonymous briefings from senior officials, also revealed that Iran is currently trying to recover the database and to revive the military communication systems that were also taken offline during the attack.

The cyber attack against occurred on 20^th June, according to the newspaper, the same day that President Trump called off a retaliatory air strike planned after shooting down of a US surveillance drone by Iranian forces.

Trump said that he decided to suspend the air strike after deciding that the human cost estimated at 150 deaths would be too high.

Instead, he ordered a cyber strike, as the latest part of an undeclared online war that between the US and Iran that has continued for a decade or more. Trump said he considered a cyber attack a more proportionate response to the downing of the US drone than air strikes.

Although the impact of the cyber operation was originally thought to be temporary, it has lasted longer. Iran is still reportedly struggling to recover the critical information it lost as a result of the attack, the report claimed.

Some senior US officials are, however, critical of the move, saying that the US exposed some of its own capabilities via the attacks and may also have lost access to the Revolutionary Guard's network.

"Iran is a sophisticated actor. They will look at what happened," said Mark Quantock, a retired major general and the former director of intelligence for the United States Central Command.

"Russia, China, Iran and even North Korea would all be able to see how they were penetrated," he added.

Last May, threat intelligence specialists warned that Iran was gearing up to launch a new wave of cyber attacks against Western government organisations and businesses. The experts also claimed that Iran has developed a sophisticated 'hierarchy of hackers' in recent years.

Notably, in November Iran also accused Israel, a close US ally, of launching a cyber attack targeting vital telecommunications infrastructure in the country.

Tensions between Iran and the US seem to have lessened somewhat in recent weeks, with governments in both countries giving some indications that they may hold talks in coming months to further ease tensions.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to hold the British oil tanker that it seized last month in the Persian Gulf.