Ever since the discovery of the Stuxnet cyber attack on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and the assignation of Iran’s chief Stuxnet Investigator, Iran has been hell-bent on developing offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.

Over this past year or so numerous comments about the cyber domain that have come out of Tehran and recently the leader of Iran’s Cyber Defense Organization, Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Jalali stated that Iranian computer experts are adequately prepared to defend the country against any possible cyber attack. Based on open sources they seem to have put cyber intelligence secondary to attack and defensive capabilities.

You really can’t tell what is behind the increase in rhetoric. The arrogant statement is sure to draw some type of reaction, but who knows what form that reactions will take. Is this bragging or are they taunting would be attackers?

The timing is certainly interesting. In the last few weeks multiple sources have reported that the disruptive cyber activities against Iran’s systems can be traced back much earlier than previously reported. In fact one report said that disruptive cyber activities may have occurred as early as 2006.

With two unexplained explosions last month in the area here Iran has nuclear development sites and other recent Iranian actions, one would have to ask the question is a cyber offensive underway that has been designed to delay Iran fulfilling their nuclear ambitions? It would be difficult to preclude this from the probable.