Tehran, Iran. (Borna Mirahmadian/Dreamstime)
Thursday, 16 Apr 2015 07:49 AM
Iran has been increasing the frequency and skill of its cyberattacks on targets around the world while negotiating limits on its nuclear capabilities, a new study conducted by cybersecurity firm Norse and the American Enterprise Institute reveals.
"Cyber gives them a usable weapon in ways nuclear technology does not," Frederick Kagan, with the institute's Critical Threats Project, told The New York Times. "It has a degree of plausible deniability that is attractive to many countries."
In February, National Intelligence Director James Clapper Jr. reported to Congress that Iranian hackers were behind a crippling attack on computers at the Las Vegas Sands hotel and casino, likely in retribution for comments made by its CEO Sheldon Adelson, an ardent supporter of Israel.
Clapper's comments, and another disclosure from President Barack Obama accusing North Korea of launching a cyberattack on Sony Pictures in retribution for the movie "The Interview," marked rare incidents in which countries were specifically targeted.
U.S. officials have also said Iran has attacked American bank computers in retaliation for ongoing sanctions against the country, and that hackers destroyed computers owned by the oil company Saudi Aramco to retaliate for the close ties Saudi Arabia maintains with the United States.
"Cyber gives them a usable weapon in ways nuclear technology does not," Frederick Kagan, with the institute's Critical Threats Project, told The New York Times. "It has a degree of plausible deniability that is attractive to many countries."
In February, National Intelligence Director James Clapper Jr. reported to Congress that Iranian hackers were behind a crippling attack on computers at the Las Vegas Sands hotel and casino, likely in retribution for comments made by its CEO Sheldon Adelson, an ardent supporter of Israel.
Clapper's comments, and another disclosure from President Barack Obama accusing North Korea of launching a cyberattack on Sony Pictures in retribution for the movie "The Interview," marked rare incidents in which countries were specifically targeted.
U.S. officials have also said Iran has attacked American bank computers in retaliation for ongoing sanctions against the country, and that hackers destroyed computers owned by the oil company Saudi Aramco to retaliate for the close ties Saudi Arabia maintains with the United States.
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