FBI: Iran to Launch New Cyber Attacks

 

Iranian hackers poised for wide-ranging strikes in retaliation for U.S. leaving nuclear deal

The FBI is warning that Iranian hackers could conduct new cyber attacks on American businesses and government networks in response to the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

“The FBI assesses foreign cyber actors operating in the Islamic Republic of Iran could potentially use a range of computer network operations—from scanning networks for potential vulnerabilities to data deletion attacks—against U.S.-based networks in response to the U.S. government’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” the FBI said in a cyber alert to U.S. businesses.

If the Iran Nuclear Deal Collapses, Iranian Hackers Will Target These U.S. Companies

 

If the Iran nuclear deal fails, U.S. companies will suffer never-before-seen security breaches thanks to Tehran’s “hacker army.”

This particular cyber militia has been honing its skills and expanding since 2013. That’s when then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani increased the country’s cybersecurity spending 12-fold, Business Insider reported in 2015. Rouhani allocated roughly $19.8 million to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Tehran’s military) to up its cyber capabilities.

Foreign States Preparing Cyber Attacks on Infrastructure in Future War

National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers / Getty Images

 

Rogers awaiting new Trump cyber policy

Foreign nations’ cyber intrusions into key infrastructure network are preparation for damaging attacks in a future conflict, the commander of Cyber Command told Congress Tuesday.

Adm. Mike Rogers, the commander who is also director of the National Security Agency, said one of his major concerns is cyber attacks on critical infrastructures used to run the electric grid, financial systems, communications networks, the transportation systems, and others.

Iran: Cyber Superpower?

Introducing the sixth member of the cyber superpower club

The Stuxnet virus was about to make history. Transferred via USB into Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility in mid-2009, the virus went to work, subtly tearing down the facility’s infrastructure. What made this historical was not its digital potency, but the fact that this virus impacted the physical, slowly wreaking havoc on the centrifuges, causing major delays to Iran’s nuclear program—precisely as Stuxnet’s creators had planned. The worm gradually increased pressure in the centrifuges, bemusing Iranian scientists and engineers. Under the increasing pressure, the centrifuges wore out quickly, forcing Tehran to replace them.

It was mid-2010 before Iran caught on and was able to tackle the virus. But then something happened. Something that Stuxnet’s creators didn’t plan for. A seed was planted in the minds of the Iranian elite: a plan to develop an Iranian cyber program capable of defending Iranian tech and attacking that of its enemies.

Iran expands cyber warfare forces, attacks critical Western infrastructure

Amid Iran’s recent demonstration of its military capabilities including the test-firing of ballistic missiles, which have drawn harsh criticism in the West and resulted in economic sanctions, a group of cyber warfare experts under the direct command of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has significantly increased its operations in recent months.

The fingerprints of the hacker organization that calls itself “Rocket Kitten”, whose IP addresses lead directly to Iranian army command, were discovered again on Tuesday, this time within the computer control system of one of the most sensitive infrastructure facilities in Central Europe.

Iran Hackers Target Airlines, Energy, Defense Companies

BOSTON (Reuters) – Iranian hackers have infiltrated major airlines, energy companies, and defense firms around the globe over the past two years in a campaign that could eventually cause physical damage, according to U.S. cyber security firm Cylance.

The report comes as governments scramble to better understand the extent of Iran’s cyber capabilities, which researchers say have grown rapidly as Tehran seeks to retaliate for Western cyber attacks on its nuclear program.

“We believe that if the operation is left to continue unabated, it is only a matter of time before the team impacts the world’s physical safety,” Cylance said in an 87-page report on the hacking campaign released on Tuesday.

Israeli government websites under mass hacking attack

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – More than 44 million hacking attempts have been made on Israeli government web sites since Wednesday when Israel began its Gaza air strikes, the government said on Sunday.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said just one hacking attempt was successful on a site he did not want to name, but it was up and running after 10 minutes of downtime.

…

“The war is taking place on three fronts. The first is physical, the second is on the world of social networks and the third is cyber,” said Carmela Avner, Israel’s chief information officer.

Last month, U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said cyberspace is the battlefield of the future, with attackers already going after banks and other financial systems. U.S. banks have been under sustained attack by suspected Iranian hackers thought to be responding to economic sanctions aimed at forcing Tehran to negotiate over its nuclear program.

Full article: Israeli government websites under mass hacking attack (CNBC)

Iran Strikes Back

At this pace, it’s only a matter of time an event this video portrays will happen again. One can only hope this time there will still be a safety net in place.

Iranian hackers took over a University of Michigan computer network during a massive cyber attack on U.S. financial systems last week that continued following comments on the strike by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

According to reports by a leading Internet security-monitoring firm, the cyber attacks against Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and several other U.S. financial institutions began Oct. 8 when hackers gained control of the university’s College of Engineering network in Ann Arbor.