Cyber chiefs in Iran have banned officials from using devices connected to public networks, as the country battles an Israeli army that has previously killed dozens with exploding pagers.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Cyber Security Command issued the instruction to officials and their teams, Fars news agency reported. It came as Israel is expanding its air campaign on Tehran five days after its surprise attack on Iran's military and nuclear programme.
It signals fears in Iran that Israel may use wireless devices in attacks on Iranian officials, as it did with Lebanon's Hezbollah members during last year's war. On September 17, thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut and other Hezbollah strongholds, in most cases after the devices beeped, indicating an incoming message.
Hezbollah said at the time the incident was the "biggest security breach" for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel, which largely ended in November after the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.
The blasts caused eye injuries, missing fingers or gaping holes in victim's abdomens.
The pager attack in Lebanon, and another the following day that activated weaponised walkie-talkies, killed 39 people, including two children, as well as civilians, and injured more than 3,400.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut 10 days later and the cross-border fighting eased only in late November, when the ceasefire came into force.
Cyber attack
On Tuesday, a cyber attack hit Sepah Bank, one of Iran's main state-owned banks, Fars news agency reported. It said the attack was "causing disruption to the institution's online services", which was expected to take hours to resolve.
The IRGC, meanwhile, said it struck a site belonging to Israel's foreign spy agency Mossad in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. In a statement aired on state television, the IRGC said an Israeli "terrorist operations planning centre" was on fire as a result.
Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile programme is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people and injured 1,277 since Friday.
Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 wounded. The Israeli military said another barrage of missiles was launched on Tuesday, with explosions heard in the north of the country.
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
