Iran building modern cyber army

The officials say they also plan to set up a national internet to minimize identity theft and potential cyber attacks.

Speaking on the final day of the first national conference on cyber defense, head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization said they want to have a cyber army, after the successful launch of the cyber defense headquarters with support from more than 60 organizations, ministries and private entities.

According to the officials, Iran is the first country ever in the Middle East to actually be engaged in a cyber war with the United States and Israel.

If anything, they said, the recent cyber attacks were what encouraged them to set up the Passive Defense Organization - which gathers computer scientists, programmers, software engineers and cyber security specialists.

Experts say it makes sense for Iran to build a cyber army because it is a heavily wired country with more than 36 million internet users, more than 50 percent of the total population.