US Homeland Security warns of possible cyberattacks by Iran

Homeland Security and Iran cyberattacks

Homeland Security USA issued a warning about possible acts of terrorism and cyberattacks by Iran in response to the assassination of General Kassem Suleimani, the head of the Quds special forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, after the US air strike on the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on January 3.

Iran is at least capable of carrying out attacks that could temporarily disable critical infrastructure in the United States, the agency said.

“The United States designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a Foreign Terrorist Organization on April 15, 2019 for its direct involvement in terrorist plotting. On January 2, 2020, the United States carried out a lethal strike in Iraq killing Iranian IRGC-Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani while Soleimani was in Iraq. Iranian leadership and several affiliated violent extremist organizations publicly stated they intend to retaliate against the United States”, — informs Homeland Security.

As indicated in the warning, possible attack scenarios may include “intelligence and planning attacks on targets, as well as cyberattacks on various US-based targets.”

“Iran supports an active cyber program and can carry out cyberattacks against the United States. Iran is at least capable of carrying out attacks that could temporarily disable critical infrastructure in the US”, – the ministry said.

These warnings are not simply words – note that a few hours after the American authorities warned of possible cyberattacks by Iran, one of the US government sites was hacked by allegedly. The talk is about the portal of the Federal Library Program (FDLP), where documentation published in the public domain.

On attempts to reach the site, on the screen was displayed a message from hackers calling themselves the “Iran Cyber Security Group”, stating that hacking was only a “small part” of Iran’s cyber capabilities. It is not reported whether the attackers managed to compromise government data.

It would not be a mistake to suppose that not only American information security specialists should be ready for any provocations from the outside. Cyberattacks can affect not only attackers’ targets, but may cause random damage worldwide. A few years ago, the NotPetya network worm, aimed at infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, caused enormous damage to enterprises around the world. While beginning of the third world war is only a horrific assumption, in cyberspace the global conflict has already begun.

Please avoid a cybershit.

And let GridinSoft keep you! )))

By Vladimir Krasnogolovy

Vladimir is a technical specialist who loves giving qualified advices and tips on GridinSoft's products. He's available 24/7 to assist you in any question regarding internet security.

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