The hackers “stole hundreds of terabytes of data, which typically included confidential communications pertaining to national security, foreign policy intelligence, non-military nuclear information, aerospace data, human rights activist information, victim financial information and personally identifiable information, and intellectual property, including unpublished scientific research.”
This theft could have consequences that reverberate for years. Nonetheless, if President Trump takes any action against Iran for this act of war, the outcry against him from the Left will be immediate, shrill, and insistent.
“Iranians Charged in Cyber Theft of National Security and Nuclear Information,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, September 16, 2020:
The Department of Justice charged two Iranians on Wednesday with engaging in a wide-ranging state-backed cyber espionage campaign targeting national security intelligence and nuclear information.
The “coordinated cyber intrusion campaign” was conducted by the hackers at the behest of the Iranian government, according to the DOJ. The hackers “stole hundreds of terabytes of data, which typically included confidential communications pertaining to national security, foreign policy intelligence, non-military nuclear information, aerospace data, human rights activist information, victim financial information and personally identifiable information, and intellectual property, including unpublished scientific research,” according to the indictment.
The Iranian government was particularly interested in obtaining information on dissidents and human rights activists who oppose the hardline regime….
The hacking operations targeted computers located in New Jersey and other U.S. states, as well as Europe and the Middle East. The hacks started around 2013 and included American universities, an unnamed D.C.-based think tank, a defense contractor, an aerospace company, and several nongovernmental organizations….