{"id":3114,"date":"2026-03-04T14:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/3114\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:25:10","slug":"expert-cyber-is-the-fuel-for-israel-us-in-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/3114\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert: Cyber is the ‘fuel’ for Israel, US in Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cyber operations have moved from being on the periphery of modern conflict to a strategic center, and are likely helping to shape every military decision in the American-Israeli war against Iran<\/a>, known in Israel as Roaring Lion and in the United States as Epic Fury.<\/p>\n

According to Shai Nahum, CEO of CYGHT and recipient of the Israel Defense Prize, cyber warfare is no longer just a parallel domain of war, but a core layer that is critical in shaping intelligence, operations, and even psychological influence campaigns.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post, Nahum said that the current war has exposed a truth long in the making: Cyber capabilities influence \u201cevery decision and every missile we fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Intelligence, SIGINT, targeting, and operational planning all rely on cyber-derived information.<\/p>\n

\u201cCyber is the fuel for every corps – air, land and sea,\u201d he said. According to him, it provides the precision and real\u2011time data that guide physical platforms to their targets.<\/p>\n

\"AA man on a bike looks at a destroyed car, in the aftermath of a strike on a police station in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026 (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR\/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Nahum says the conflict in June, known as Rising Lion<\/a>, initially focused on halting Iran\u2019s nuclear and missile programs and has now broadened into a campaign targeting the stability of the Islamic Republic itself as part of Roaring Lion\/Epic Fury.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is immune,\u201d he said. \u201cThe goal is broader now, it\u2019s to destroy the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyber as a central tool<\/p>\n

Pointing to two incidents that have circled widely – an alleged audio recording of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the Iranian people, and a push notification sent through a popular Iranian app<\/a> telling citizens that help was on the way- Nahum said that cyber operations have become a central tool in toppling the regime.<\/p>\n

According to Nahum, Israel and the United States now view influence operations as essential to accelerating internal pressure on the regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe regime won\u2019t fall on its own, or even from firepower alone,\u201d he told D&T. \u201cBut if the Iranian people take action, it will fall faster.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, Iran has attempted similar operations inside Israel, seeking to inflame internal divisions. But the scale and sophistication of the current Israeli\u2011American effort, he argues, is unprecedented.<\/p>\n

From Stuxnet to deep penetration<\/p>\n

Nahum traces the roots of today\u2019s cyber confrontation back to 2010, when the Stuxnet worm, widely attributed to Israel and the United States, damaged Iran\u2019s nuclear centrifuges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe regime should have understood then that Israel and the US had succeeded in penetrating their nuclear program,\u201d he said. Even back then \u201cthey were already compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointing to the June breaches of Iranian bitcoin exchanges and IRGC\u2011linked banks as examples of how thoroughly foreign intelligence services have infiltrated Iranian networks<\/p>\n

\u201cFifteen years later, Western access is far deeper\u201d, he told D&T. \u201cThese compromises show you that Western militaries are inside your infrastructure. Inside their critical decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MenMen watch from a hillside as a plume of smoke rises after an explosion on March 2, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (credit: Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images)Iran\u2019s digital isolation and its vulnerabilities<\/p>\n

Throughout the war, Iran has sharply restricted internet access<\/a>, leaving only a small fraction of the population online. Nahum estimates that roughly 4% of Iranians retained connectivity during the height of the fighting. The goal, he said, was to block Israeli and American messaging and limit the spread of anti\u2011regime sentiment.<\/p>\n

Yet even with the public internet largely shut down, Iran remains exposed. Its internal intranet that\u2019s used for banking, government services, and industrial systems-continues to operate. Nahum believes this network is a key target for future cyber operations during the current war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may see the Israelis and Americans continue to compromise Iranian\u2011related infrastructure like financial, telecom, and manufacturing systems,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are the systems that keep the regime functioning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cyber operations have moved from being on the periphery of modern conflict to a strategic center, and are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2381,2383,2380,2382,2384,423,1281,1607,37,215,212,92,947],"class_list":{"0":"post-3114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-cyber","9":"tag-cyberwar","10":"tag-cyberwarfare","11":"tag-defense-industry","12":"tag-defense-tech","13":"tag-idf","14":"tag-intelligence","15":"tag-interview","16":"tag-israel","17":"tag-israel-iran-war","18":"tag-operation-epic-fury","19":"tag-operation-roaring-lion","20":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116171370890980662","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}