OPINION:
The Obama administration plans to publicly blame Iran for a cyber attack against an infrastructure target in the United States in 2013. The Bowman Avenue Dam in Rye Brook, New York, is a small structure in the suburbs of New York City. Iranian hackers gained control of some back office systems during the attack, but according to U.S. officials, the intruders were not able to get into the control systems of the facility.
However, the episode highlights the extreme vulnerability of America’s critical infrastructure which include power systems, water facilities, dams, port, et cetera. The frightening characteristic of the cyber event is the fact that the attack was conducted with off-the-shelf destructive software.
Leo Taddeo, chief security officer of security firm Cryptzone and former chief of cyber investigations for the FBI in New York, says the U.S. private sector companies that operate the nation’s critical infrastructure need the government’s help to try to discourage such attacks. “We’re always concerned when we see nation-state activity probing our infrastructure,” Taddeo said, speaking generally about the Rye attack, reports CNN.
Administration officials speak of continued growth of Iranian cyber attacks against the United States even as the White House heralds the international agreement with Iran concerning its nuclear weapons ambitions. Iran also continues to behave in a threatening manner towards the West with illegal ballistic missile launches and threats toward the Jewish state, Israel.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.