These fraudsters may launch cyberattacks despite the declared ceasefire and ongoing negotiations between the two countries, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI and the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) said in a press release outlining a Cybersecurity Information Sheet (CSI).
“Due to recent events, Iranian state-sponsored or affiliated threat actors are likely to significantly increase their distributed denial of service (DDoS) campaigns, and potentially also conduct ransomware attacks,” the release said. “The authoring agencies urge organizations, especially those within U.S. critical infrastructure, to remain vigilant for the outlined potential targeted malicious cyber activity.”
In the past, these fraudsters have targeted U.S. networks and internet-connected devices that were poorly secured, seeking targets of opportunity, outdated software, and the use of default or common passwords, according to the release.
It suggests that organizations read the CSI to review the fraudsters’ commonly used techniques, assess their own cybersecurity weaknesses, update their incident response plans, and harden their cyber defenses.
The FBI said in April that ransomware remains the top threat to American infrastructure, with complaints in 2024 rising 9% above 2023’s total.
Nearly half of all ransomware complaints received by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2024 involved critical infrastructure organizations in sectors like manufacturing, financial services, information technology, healthcare and government.
The CISA released recommendations in April 2024 meant to help companies navigate the treacherous landscape of cybersecurity, including the dangers lurking in artificial intelligence.
The recommendations highlighted the need for advanced safeguards as AI increasingly integrates into essential sectors like energy, transportation and healthcare.
It was reported in February 2024 that the Chinese government’s attempt to virtually attack U.S. infrastructure had reached new levels and had become a defining threat to national security.
For example, a Chinese hacking network was revealed to be dormant inside U.S. critical infrastructure, with malware that needed only to be triggered to disrupt that infrastructure.
