US Govt States Iran’s Cyberattacks Can Interrupt Critical Infrastructure

The National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) has warned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding a terrorism threat alert that potential cyberattacks carried out by Iranian-backed actors against the U.S. have the ability to interrupt critical infrastructure. The NTAS bulletin was issued to draw the underway threat scenery following a deadly strike carried out against and killing the Iranian IRGC-Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani on January 2, 2020, at the Baghdad airport in Iraq.

While DHS’ NTAS alert says that there is “no information indicating a specific, credible threat to the Homeland” at this time, the DHS also adds that “an attack in the homeland may come with little or no warning.” “Iran and its partners, such as Hizballah, have shown the purpose and potential to execute operations in the United States,” with former such attempts having “included, among other things, scouting and planning against infrastructure targets and cyber-enabled attacks against a range of U.S.-based targets.”

“Iran maintains a robust cyber program and can execute cyberattacks against the United States,” DHS’s NTAS alert says.

“Iran is capable, at a minimum, of carrying out attacks with temporary disruptive effects against critical infrastructure in the United States.”

While the NTAS alert doesn’t comment what sectors could be targeted in such approaching attacks, the DHS website lists the following 16 critical infrastructure sectors as vital to the United States:

• Chemical Sector

• Commercial Facilities Sector

• Communications Sector

• Critical Manufacturing Sector

• Dams Sector

• Defense Industrial Base Sector

• Emergency Services Sector

• Energy Sector

• Financial Services Sector

• Food and Agriculture Sector

• Government Facilities Sector

• Healthcare and Public Health Sector

• Information Technology Sector

• Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector

• Transportation Systems Sector

• Water and Wastewater Systems Sector

As the DHS says, incapacitating or destroying targets from these infrastructure sectors “would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.” “Iran has shown previously to be opportunistic in its targeting of infrastructure with denial of service attacks against banks as well as trying to get access to industrial control systems in electric and water companies,” Robert M. Lee, Dragos CEO and Founder said.