The Lede Blog: Iranian Scientist Claims U.S. Cyberattack Was ... Loud

The United States has a rather bizarre history of blasting rock music into the ears of presumed enemies, so it seemed plausible when a prominent security expert reported Monday that a new cyberattack on Iran’s atomic program included workstations erupting in booms of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, an Australian rock band.

In a blog post, Mikko Hypponen, the chief research officer of F-Secure, a computer security company based in Finland, cited “a series of e-mails” he had received from “a scientist working at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.” He admitted he was unable to confirm any details of the alleged attack but said the sender was using the correct e-mail address, aeoi.org.ir.

Mr. Hypponen quoted the scientist as saying the music hit “in the middle of the night with the volume maxed out.”

His report created a sensation as blogs and news reports around the globe repeated the claim. ForeignPolicy.com went further, noting on its blog that the United States had repeatedly blasted loud music at supposed foes.

For instance, it noted that American troops in 1989 had tried to force the Panamanian president, Manuel Noriega, from his refuge in the Vatican embassy by bombarding it with loud music. The blog told of military DJs taking requests and creating a playlist that included AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.”

More recently, Foreign Policy said, the United States Psychological Operations Company “admitted to the use of heavy metal in Iraq as a mechanism to break uncooperative prisoners’ resistance.” And the International Committee of the Red Cross, it noted, had reported the use of similar tactics against Guantánamo inmates.

Alas, the Iranian episode seems too good to be true.

Specialists in cyberwarfare said the e-mails could have easily been faked, including the seeming return address from the Iranian atomic program. Simple logic, one expert noted, suggested that an Iranian scientist writing such a report to a foreigner might quickly join the ranks of the martyrs. Finally, the tone of the alleged e-mails from the Iranian scientist seemed suspicious in their self-congratulatory tone about the success of the computer attack and its heavy-metal explosion.

“I doubt it,” a senior administration official who closely follows the Iranian program said of the cyber claim.