Hello. U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, posted on X late Sunday: “U.S. forces are taking bold action to eliminate imminent threats posed by the Iranian regime. Strikes continue.”

Iran, though not as sophisticated in offensive hacking as other nations, has some distinct strengths and recognized tactics. 

Cyber retaliation from Iran would probably target U.S. utility providers and include distributed denial-of-service attacks on high-profile websites. Iranian espionage has focused on compromising the accounts of defense-industry employees in recent years. Read our snapshot of Iran's cyber skills.

More below on the cyber picture in the region.

Israeli cyberattacks knocked out communications channels of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Jerusalem Times reported. The IRGC is Iran’s strongest political and economic force.

Israel hacked a popular Iranian prayer app to send notifications to potentially millions of phones Saturday morning urging the country’s military personnel to defect from the regime and join a fight to liberate the country, WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

• The hack of the BadeSaba Calendar app appeared to be one disruption in a broader wave of cyber operations that coincided with Israeli and U.S. military strikes. Iranian state media reported that some news sites, including state news agency IRNA, were hijacked to display articles about Saturday’s attacks and discredit the regime.

Pro-Iran hackers have taken credit for hits against websites and network infrastructure in the region, including in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, according to cyber researchers at Check Point Software. Surveillance cameras in Israel and elsewhere have also been targeted, Check Point said. 

• Cybersecurity company Sophos noted that Handla Hack, the group claiming it is behind these cyber strikes, often overstates its capabilities but "on occasion has been capable of executing data theft and wiper attacks."

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The WSJ Pro Cybersecurity team is Deputy Bureau Chief Kim S. Nash and reporters Angus Loten and James Rundle. Follow us on X @WSJCyber. Reach the team by replying to any newsletter you receive or by emailing Kim at kim.nash@wsj.com.