The U.S. is Prepared to Counter Potential Cyber Attacks from Iran

On Wednesday, August 8, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. has been concerned about potential cyber attacks from Iranian hackers since May, coinciding with the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, and this concern has increased with the reimposition of the first phase of sanctions against the Iranian government. Cybersecurity experts quoted by the Associated Press noted that while no specific threats have been identified at present, there have been scattered activities regarding such threats in recent weeks. Amir Rashidi, a cybersecurity researcher based in New York with the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, believes that given past precedents, the likelihood of cyber attacks from the Islamic Republic exists. Rashidi's comments refer to a wave of cyber attacks by the Islamic Republic between 2014 and 2016 that caused millions of dollars in damages in the U.S. U.S. intelligence agencies consider the Iranian government, alongside Russia, China, and North Korea, as one of the four states responsible for cyber threats against the United States. It is reported that Iranian hackers have also attempted to infiltrate U.S. infrastructure systems but have been unsuccessful in these efforts. The Iranian government, however, denies such accusations and, in turn, accuses the United States of cyber attacks. Several years ago, the Stuxnet computer virus disabled thousands of centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment facility, and according to the Associated Press, public belief is that Stuxnet was created by the U.S. and Israel. The news agency also quoted Alireza Miryousefi, spokesperson for the Iranian delegation to the United Nations, stating that Iran's cyber capabilities are purely defensive. Nonetheless, the agency noted threats from Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, who spoke of asymmetric warfare against the U.S. that may include cyber attacks; however, Amir Rashidi considers the capabilities of the Islamic Republic's hackers to be limited. The Associated Press added that the office of Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, refrained from commenting on the possibility of cyber attacks by Iranian hackers in response to the renewed sanctions against the Islamic Republic. In this context, concerns from the German domestic intelligence agency about Iran's cyber attack capabilities, economic espionage by Iran, China, and Russia against the U.S., and warnings from U.S. intelligence officials about the 'increasing risk of cyber attacks' have emerged. U.S. officials have accused Iran of preparing for 'cyber attacks'.