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Page added on May 25, 2013
Hacks targeting US oil, gas, and electric companies traced to Iran
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times both report that recent cyber attacks against US oil, gas, and power companies have come from Iran. The hackers were targeting control systems and probing for the kind of access that would give them the ability to disrupt oil pipelines and other infrastructure. The cyber attacks are likely backed by the Iranian government, though apparently the evidence isn’t definitive.
Iran has apparently been stepping up its cyber warfare capabilities since its nuclear facilities fell victim to Stuxnet, widely believed to have been launched by a collaboration between the US and Israel. In fact, Iran cited attacks on its own facilities in its denial of this most recent round of hacking, telling the Wall Street Journal that “Iran has not ever retaliated against those illegal cyberattacks.”
The attacks on US infrastructure are different from earlier Iranian-sourced hacks, which primarily targeted banks with less-sophisticated denial of service attacks. US officials are reportedly more concerned about the Iranian attacks than recent Chinese-based hacks, as those were primarily (though not exclusively) aimed at newspapers and collecting intellectual property.
Although it doesn’t appear that the hacks have resulted in any damage, officials characterized the attacks as “probes that suggest someone is looking at how to take control of these systems,” the New York Times reports. The Wall Street Journal says that although the hacks haven’t yet been successful, they have gone “far enough to worry people.”
6 Comments on "Hacks targeting US oil, gas, and electric companies traced to Iran"
dissident on Sat, 25th May 2013 12:54 pm
Boo hoo hoo. What idiots would make vital computers systems internet accessible? Is everybody too lazy these days to actually go to work? They have to stay at home and surf the web?
DC on Sat, 25th May 2013 5:48 pm
Yes, the Wall St. Urinal and NYT are both such credible sources. Did either organization have actual reporters doing actual investigations to determine if any of that ‘Iranian’ cyber war garbage was remotely true? Or did they simply repeat what the US state dept told them to?
Fact is, all the garbage listed above is million times more likely to be disrupted by either the weather, or its own shoddy design and lack of required maintenance than any so-called ‘Cyber’ attacks. In any event, its a proven fact the vast majority of hackers, both govt and not, come from amerika.
The only reason the amerikan press keeps beating this drum is because both China and Iran(apparently hacker havens), have been pretty well-behaved in the real world, despite ceaseless US provocations and REAL attacks by the US. IoW, they haven’t done very much, if anything to retaliate. This angers the US since it gives them little to hang there propaganda wars on. Thus, all Iranians and Chinese are ‘hackers’ out to take over amerikas pipelines and shoddily built nuclear power stations.
Of course, try to ask an amerikan official is they can point to even one case where anyone was harmed, much less killed, or where a ‘hack’ was definitively proven to originate from the places amerika claims. If you were to, you either get silence or referred to ‘top secret’ reports, by impartial and credible organization like the, FBI, CIA, DHS etc, whose contents of course, can never be viewed.
BillT on Sun, 26th May 2013 2:48 am
You said it all, Dc. Thanks!
To your last observation, about 100 people are murdered every day in the US. More in one month than the 9/11 incident killed. We don’t go to war on murders.
Another 100 are killed in car accidents, not to mention thousands hurt, every day. Where is the war on automobiles?
Then there is cancer caused by tobacco smoking, etc.
Terrorism is probably the lowest killer in the continental US, but we have destroyed much of the world to stop a few dozen radicals that would have been quietly taken out by the CIA in past years. Not enough profit in that.
GregT on Sun, 26th May 2013 3:14 am
The US and Israel have already given the Stuxnet virus code to Iran. If Iran really cared to do serious damage to American interests, they have been given the tools that they need to get the job done.
Kenz300 on Sun, 26th May 2013 7:51 pm
The Wall Street Journal is part of the Murdoch, News Corp empire. There is always an agenda and spin in any reporting they do.
Is this the NeoCons of the RepubliCON party trying to stir up another WAR. This time with Iran.
ok on Tue, 28th May 2013 8:12 pm
ok