The U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on Friday will likely lead to retaliatory cyberattacks against America, security authorities say. That means the power and electricity you use, the smart devices you carry and your bank accounts could be more vulnerable than ever to bad actors looking for revenge. The U.S. military attack on Iran will “generate some significant response from the Iranians and that response could very well come in the form of a major cyberattack,” said Jamil N. Jaffer, vice president at IronNet Cybersecurity, a startup that helps nations defend against advanced digital threats.
A cyber conflict between the U.S. and Iran has been silently raging for years, with hacking attempts from the Middle East being made every single day. But now that the government has taken out one of the most powerful figures in Iran, an influx of hacking attempts is expected.”Maybe they’ll double,” said Oded Vanunu, a leading vulnerability researcher at Check Point. “There will be many more cyberattacks in a short time. Most of which will target online services.”
Cybersecurity has become an increasingly important issue. (Photo: Thinkstock)“Without shooting a single bullet or missile, you can shut down an entire county or nation.”Paul Martini, co-founder of iBossPrivate-sector corporations, which include banking, health care and energy services, would be the primary targets, according to Paul Martini, co-founder of the network security platform iBoss.
In the worst-case scenario, Iranian hackers “could instantaneously shut down an entire power grid,” Martini said. “It’s not just the lights, it’s also the internet which shuts down communication systems. Without shooting a single bullet or missile, you can shut down an entire county or nation.”
And even if Iran’s hacking capabilities aren’t sophisticated enough to fully undermine the U.S., high-ranking officials could bribe advanced hackers from around the world with bitcoin, Martini said. Big cities like Atlanta, Boston, and New Orleans have been crippled by various forms of cybersecurity attacks in recent history.
In the past few years, the Trump administration has issued a series of cyberattacks against Iran. Iran and hackers, in general, have gotten more sophisticated in orchestrating attacks on interconnected computing systems over time.
