On 1 April, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement through the Tasnim news agency.TasnimThe statement said that US information and communication technology (ICT) and artificial intelligence (AI) companies play a significant role in supporting US military operations in the Middle East. Therefore, 18 technology companies were designated as "legitimate targets" in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with a warning for employees to immediately leave their workplaces for safety.
Besides the major tech firms mentioned above, the statement also listed other companies including: Cisco, HP, Intel, Oracle, IBM, Dell, Palantir, JPMorgan, Tesla, GE, Spire Solutions, Boeing. Also included was the UAE-based AI company G42, in which the US is a key partner and investor.
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James Henderson, CEO of risk management firm Healix, told CNBC that the threats against tech companies are not temporary incidents but a long-term trend, as tech assets are increasingly seen as part of the battlefield rather than peripheral elements. He added that in the next crisis, targets may expand to data centers and cloud platforms, similar to strategic infrastructure.
Following the IRGC announcement, many companies have begun reviewing security measures at their Middle East offices, instructing employees to work from home and temporarily closing offices. They have also heightened security at data centers and offices to prevent both physical and cyber attacks, while coordinating closely with government authorities.
In recent years, US technology companies have accelerated investments in the Middle East, especially in AI infrastructure, due to the region’s low energy costs, available development space, and supportive ecosystems for funding and R&D. This has made the Middle East a key hub for many leading tech firms' offices and infrastructure.
If Iran were to attack the technology companies' infrastructure in the Middle East, the impact could occur on multiple levels depending on the "target" and the "scale of the attack."
1. Regional level: Partial system outages.
The Middle East is a crucial hub for cloud infrastructure. Data centers operated by Google, Microsoft, and AWS support users in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Asia. Attacks could cause widespread outages of cloud services, email, SaaS, and business applications, immediately disrupting many enterprises.
Earlier in March, Iran attacked AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, causing disruption to many digital applications and services in the region. Reports indicated drone attacks affected AWS services, with billing and inventory data in some areas being deleted.
2. Global level: Severe impact if vulnerabilities are hit.
Although the global internet is designed with redundancy, critical vulnerabilities remain, such as undersea cables, landing stations, and large interconnection hubs. If these structures are attacked, international data transmission could slow or experience outages in services like WhatsApp, Gmail, or Instagram.
3. Cyber risk escalation.
Beyond physical attacks, conflicts of this nature often include cyber warfare, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks targeting servers, websites, or networks, system hacks, and digital sabotage.
Previously, Iran claimed attacks on industrial and communication centers in Israel, including systems related to Siemens and AT&T. Hacker groups linked to the IRGC, such as Seedworm and Handala, have used "wiper" malware to attack Israeli software companies, aiming to permanently delete data rather than just steal it. Such attacks could spread to critical infrastructure in other countries, including financial, transportation, or energy systems.
If the IRGC fully carries out attacks, the impact will extend beyond just the companies targeted, developing in three phases: business disruption (Economic Shock), destabilization of digital infrastructure (Infrastructure Risk), followed by a global decline in trust (Trust Crisis).
Technology companies may reduce investments in risky areas, delay expansion in the Middle East, move data centers to safer regions, or segment services by region. These trends could lead to long-term "fragmentation of the global internet."
Meanwhile, in financial markets, the situation has caused volatility in technology stocks, reflecting investor concerns that escalation could affect not only the Middle East but also disrupt digital infrastructure worldwide, impacting the stability of many digital services used daily by people globally.
Currently, the technology industry remains on high alert. Although no major destructive event occurred by the 1 April deadline, Iran's shifting targets and prior data center attacks demonstrate that "technology" is seen not only as a business tool but also a critical military infrastructure, becoming a frontline of global conflict.
Sources CNBC , Datacenterdynamics ,DigitalShield
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