U.S. hits Iran back with cyberattacks

U.S. Cyber Command on Thursday conducted online attacks against an Iranian intelligence group that U.S. officials believe helped plan recent attacks against oil tankers, according to people briefed on the operation.

The online attacks, which had been planned for weeks, were meant to be a direct response to both the tanker attacks this month and the downing of a U.S. drone this week, according to the people briefed on the operations.

Multiple computer systems were targeted, they said, including those believed to have been used by an Iranian intelligence group that helped plan the tanker attacks.

An additional breach, one source said, targeted other computer systems that control Iranian missile launches.

The intrusion occurred the same day President Donald Trump called off a military strike on Iranian targets. But the cyberoperation was allowed to go forward because it was intended to be below the threshold of armed conflict — using the same shadow tactics that Iran has used.

Officials also are trying to devise other operations that would not escalate tensions with Iran but would try to deter further attacks.

On Saturday, Christopher Krebs, director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, issued a warning about Iranian cyberattacks on American industries and government agencies, saying “malicious cyberactivity” was on the rise.

New York Times