AI, Cyberwar Fuel Iran's Shadow War
The physical battlefield has gained a dangerous twin: a shadow conflict powered by malicious code, weaponized algorithms, and state-sponsored hackers operating across an attack surface that recognizes no borders.
Erdem Eris, CEO of cybersecurity consultancy Cyber Arts, told media that the rules of modern warfare have been fundamentally rewritten by artificial intelligence.
According to Eris, contemporary conflict has shed its purely physical form and mutated into a ruthless contest for strategic control—one dictated not by troop numbers, but by data dominance and algorithmic superiority. Nation-state hackers are quietly burrowing into critical national infrastructure while coordinated psychological operations run simultaneously, manipulating digital environments and engineering public fear—most visibly through the seizure of state-run broadcasters designed to fracture civilian trust.
"The US Central Command (CENTCOM) is widely known to use AI-supported analysis systems in operations against Iran—AI models play a key role in intelligence analysis, target assessment, and data-intensive decision-making processes," he said. "Meanwhile, Israeli cyber forces took over mobile apps used by millions in Iran to relay propaganda straight to the devices people carry in their pockets."
"The simultaneous hacking of state news agencies and media websites also showed that these efforts are aimed directly at public perception—war waged on the invisible front, therefore, makes up a wide range of attack surfaces, ranging from power plants to media portals and from military networks to mobile apps," he added.
A Three-Tier Digital War
Eris cautioned that the spiraling digital offensive carries grave implications for international security, reinforcing that AI has entrenched itself as the central engine of wartime strategy. That same dependency, however, introduces acute vulnerabilities—technological over-reliance and fragile supply chains that could gut any nation's defensive capabilities overnight.
To map the invisible conflict, Eris broke it down into three distinct layers of digital confrontation.
He said: "First, state-sponsored advanced threat actors (APTs) infiltrate key infrastructure, gain persistent access, and gather intelligence—AI analysis systems are now a part of operational planning in this phase.
"Second is perception-related operations, such as hijacking apps downloaded by millions, spreading propaganda through push notifications, and modifying homepages of media websites in a bid to undermine the trust and the perception of authority figures in the country.
"Third is the cybercrime ecosystem, such as phishing attacks, propagating ransomware, and starting fake donation campaigns, turning the crisis environment into an opportunity," he added.
National Survival Now Hinges on Cyber Resilience
Against the backdrop of rapidly evolving cyber warfare doctrine, Eris argued that unbreakable digital resilience has transcended policy priority—it is now a condition of national survival. A single breakdown in relations with a major technology provider, he noted, could paralyze military operations on the ground, illustrating just how deeply AI has woven itself into the machinery of war. Meanwhile, the targeting of public perception through compromised apps and media hijacking is only expected to intensify.
Eris issued a stark warning: mere participation in the global digital ecosystem is sufficient to make any country a potential casualty—even those with no direct stake in the physical conflict.
He urged nations, specifically citing Türkiye, to embed security-by-design frameworks across energy, financial, and telecommunications sectors. The cyber arena, he stressed, is no longer a secondary theater of war—it is the primary one, where technological independence and digital governance will ultimately determine who prevails.
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