A report by Axios revealed that a parallel fight is folding online amid military strikes by the U.S. and Israeli forces. While there’s been a history of cyberattacks against the U.S. by Iranian actors, the use of similar tactics by the U.S. and Israeli governments is notable.
Israel says it is targeting cyber infrastructure, according to the report. Last week, Israel carried out a “wide-scale strike” targeting a collection of military sites in Tehran that allegedly housed the headquarters of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the IDF. Calais, the headquarters of the IRGC’s “cyber and electronic headquarters,” and its “Intelligence Directorate” were among the military outposts hit in the strike. However, the flow of information from Iran has been limited since it has been under an internet blackout since the first U.S. and Israeli strikes began, according to Politico.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Israel hacked a popular Iranian prayer app to send notifications to potentially millions of phones last month, urging the country’s military personnel to defect from the regime. Iranian state media had also reported that news sites, including state news agency IRNA, were hijacked to display articles about the cyberattacks and discredit the regime.
According to the Financial Times, the Israeli military had access to “nearly all” of the traffic cameras in Tehran. In partnership with the CIA, Israel used the cameras to target the air strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
READ: Trump suggests US could turn attention to Cuba after Iran war (March 6, 2026)
Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs, said the U.S. Cyber Command and Space Command were among the “first movers” during the initial strike against Iran last month.
Meanwhile, a Wednesday cyberattack allegedly linked to Iran‑aligned hackers disrupted operations at Stryker, a major U.S. medical technology company, according to the Wall Street Journal. Stryker confirmed in a statement that it is “experiencing a global network disruption to our Microsoft environment,” but that it hasn’t seen any signs of “ransomware or malware” and now believes the incident is “contained.”
The same group claimed on X that it hacked U.S.-based payments firm Verifone. The company said it found no evidence of a breach and no service disruption.
Iran-aligned hackers and self-described “hacktivist” groups have increased activity against entities in the Middle East, the U.S. and parts of Asia following the Feb. 28 airstrikes, according to CrowdStrike. Researchers from cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 also reported that dozens of pro-Iran hacktivist groups say they have launched several cyberattacks since Feb. 28, mostly targeting critical infrastructure.