US Suspects Iran Was Behind a Wave of Cyberattacks

SternisheFan writes in with this Times article about more trouble brewing between the U.S. and Iran. "American intelligence officials are increasingly convinced that Iran was the origin of a serious wave of network attacks that crippled computers across the Saudi oil industry and breached financial institutions in the United States, episodes that contributed to a warning last week from Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta that the United States was at risk of a 'cyber-Pearl Harbor.' After Mr. Panetta's remarks on Thursday night, American officials described an emerging shadow war of attacks and counterattacks already under way between the United States and Iran in cyberspace. Among American officials, suspicion has focused on the 'cybercorps' that Iran's military created in 2011 — partly in response to American and Israeli cyberattacks on the Iranian nuclear enrichment plant at Natanz — though there is no hard evidence that the attacks were sanctioned by the Iranian government. The attacks emanating from Iran have inflicted only modest damage. Iran's cyberwarfare capabilities are considerably weaker than those in China and Russia, which intelligence officials believe are the sources of a significant number of probes, thefts of intellectual property and attacks on American companies and government agencies."

Comments

Re:there are differences of ideological opinion

[circletimessquare]

i don't really understand the opinions in this thread, like yours, that never seem to take into account the ideology that the regime in tehran represents. in 2009, iranians tried to communicate to the regime and the world what they thought of it, and were brutally suppressed.

there's this fake shallow attitude where because the usa is hated, enemies of the usa must be championed. it's a tribal mentality where it has to be either "us" or "them" to side with. but actual principles would guide you to have antipathy to iran AND the usa. it is entirely possible to hate washington dc and tehran at the same time, often for the same reasons

nobody proves anything except the fact they falsely think contrarianism is somehow equivalent to intelligence when they give the regime in tehran a contrived benefit of the doubt. the usa commits plenty of crimes in this world. i repeat: the usa commits plenty of crimes in this world. but letting genuinely worse players slide in the name of shallow contrarianism doesn't prove much except your own lack of awareness of what actually plays out on the world stage and in iran. justice, fairness, a human conscience should be your primary concern when formulating your opinions. if these concepts were, you'd be denouncing tehran just as much if not moreso than washington dc. but so many chattering fools seem guided by the stupid notion that antipathy to washington dc means you have to let tehran off lightly

in the name of the iranian people, speak out against tehran. it doesn't mean you are a friend of washington dc. only dull tribal thinking makes you think it does