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U.S. Had Cyberattack Plan If Iran Nuclear Dispute Led to Conflict
(New York Time) David E. Sanger and Mark Mazzetti - In the early years of the Obama administration, the U.S. developed an elaborate plan for a cyberattack on Iran in case the diplomatic effort to limit its nuclear program failed and led to a military conflict, according to interviews with military and intelligence officials involved in the effort. The plan, code-named Nitro Zeus, was devised to disable Iran's air defenses, communications systems and crucial parts of its power grid. At its height, the planning for Nitro Zeus involved thousands of American military and intelligence personnel, spending tens of millions of dollars and placing electronic implants in Iranian computer networks to "prepare the battlefield." American intelligence agencies also developed a separate, far more narrowly focused cyberplan to disable the Fordo nuclear enrichment site built deep inside a mountain near Qum. It was intended as a follow-up to "Olympic Games," the code name of a cyberattack by the U.S. and Israel that destroyed 1,000 centrifuges and temporarily disrupted production at the Natanz enrichment site. The development of the two secret programs demonstrates the critical role cyberoperations now play in both military planning and covert intelligence operations.