Iran has been expanding aid to its proxies and stepping up its nuclear program; with sanctions lifted, the sky is the limit. The regime’s increased aggression includes cyberwarfare. Its government-sponsored hackers are actively targeting a “broad range of victims across multiple US sectors, including transportation and health care, and in some cases have deployed ransomware against those victims.” Ransomware refers to “sensitive data stolen from American and foreign organizations that could be useful in future efforts to hack those organizations.”
Trump well understood Iran’s capabilities and actively moved to limit its activities via crippling sanctions. By contrast, Biden is a global jester, as the Iranian regime is well aware.
Iran’s infamous chant “Death to America” is a goal which the regime and its proxies will seek any means to achieve, including cyberwarfare. The threat just wasn’t taken seriously enough by the Democrats and mainstream media. In 2014, during Obama’s leadership, the cybersecurity and software company Cylance uncovered cyber espionage activity out of Iran, which it dubbed “Operation Cleaver.” What concerned Cylance the most about the Iranian offensive was its rapid development. “What began as simple intelligence gathering against targets has led to the complete compromise of systems and networks—including traffic control and other critical infrastructure systems that could put lives in danger.”
Cylance also revealed that “attacks were aimed at a variety of nations, including Pakistan, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, as well as the United States and various European countries.” Israel is also a target.
With wide-open borders added to the mix, America is infiltrated on multiple levels.
“US warns that Iranian government-sponsored hackers are targeting key US infrastructure,” by Sean Lyngaas, CNN, November 17, 2021:
Washington (CNN)Iranian government-sponsored hackers are actively targeting a “broad range of victims” across multiple US sectors, including transportation and health care, and in some cases have deployed ransomware against those victims, US federal agencies and their counterparts from the United Kingdom and Australia warned on Wednesday.
It’s a rare case of the US government publicly linking Iran with ransomware, which is typically used by cybercriminals rather than governments. And it’s a reminder that America’s ransomware problem is not limited to Russia.
The Iranian hackers are exploiting known flaws in software made by Microsoft and California-based vendor Fortinet to access systems and at times lock them up with ransomware, according to the advisory from the FBI, US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Australian Cyber Security Centre and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre.
“These Iranian government-sponsored … actors can leverage this access for follow-on operations, such as data exfiltration or encryption, ransomware, and extortion,” the advisory states.
The Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a cyber threat sharing group for big US health care providers, said it would quickly share the US government advisory with its members.
“We’re taking it very seriously,” Errol Weiss, the group’s chief security officer, told CNN. “I would have loved a chance to work on this with the government before it came out.”
It is unclear which US health and transportation sectors were targeted by the hackers; federal officials do not typically publicly name hacking victims. The hackers appear to be focusing on exploiting the software flaws, rather than picking specific sectors to target, officials said.
Health care organizations have been strapped for resources, including cybersecurity services, throughout the coronavirus pandemic. But ransomware attacks — often from criminal groups based in Eastern Europe and Russia — on those organizations have only increased, according to tallies of attacks from private-sector experts.
The Iranian government’s alleged dabbling in ransomware, however, has received less public attention. But private-sector researchers have in recent months detailed Iran-linked hackers alleged use of ransomware, warning that hacks of companies in Israel and elsewhere are meant to disrupt business operations and intimidate victim organizations rather than recover actual ransom payments…..
revereridesagarin says
When questioned, President Joe Let’s-Go-Brandon said we must respect the decision of the Iranian government.
Three hours later, after consultation with his handlers, he expressed “anger and concern”…
Westman says
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