Protect Your Business against Iranian Retaliation Cyber-attacks

Iran has been actively participating in attacks against the United States and other western nations. The threat level has increased enough that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, has issued a series of warnings. They include discussions of the Iranian threat profile and activity, the potential for Iranian cyber response and warnings about increased focus on industrial control systems.

Iran possesses strong cyber capabilities, as history has shown. From late 2011 to mid-2013, Iranian hackers targeted major banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo with large “denial of service” attacks, making it difficult for customers to log into their accounts and access their money.

US businesses could be impacted if hackers target global supply chains and American infrastructure, such as electrical utilities, power grids, factories, bridges and dams. Many businesses would not be able to prepare for an Iranian cyber-attack, experts say, but they can at least save data to another location and make sure the back-ups are working.

“Given this latest development, American businesses must bolster their cyber defenses against spear-phishing, DDoS, ransomware and, most commonly used on Iranian neighbors, wiper attacks,” Bill Conner, CEO of SonicWall, told Recode.

“These types of attacks — used maliciously and designed to sniff out human and/or network weaknesses — could ultimately bypass a country’s most-relied-upon defenses and security controls in what would be a historical asymmetric cyberattack,” Conner added.

Reference:

https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CISA-Insights-Increased-Geopolitical-Tensions-and-Threats-S508C.pdf

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/05/tech/iran-cyberattacks-retaliation/index.html