Hackers take down Iranian social security website

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s semi-official ILNA news agency says hackers took down the website belonging to the country’s non-governmental Social Security Organization.

ILNA reported Friday that the website had been down for an unspecified amount of time the previous day, but has since been restored.

In 2011, Iran faced a computer virus called Stuxnet, which destroyed thousands of centrifuges involved in Iran’s contested nuclear program. Stuxnet is believed to be an American and Israeli creation, though neither country has acknowledged being behind it.

The Social Security Organization is a non-governmental body that provides insurance coverage for wage-earners, salaried workers and the self-employed, providing coverage to millions of people in Iran.