Latest news with #cyberattacks
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Cornered Iran could unleash sinister attacks on US soil as it runs out of options against Israel, insiders say
Desperate Iranian mullahs could lash out at America ordering deadly cyber attacks on our dams and electricity grids – or even terror attacks from 'sleeper cells', security experts are warning. spoke to former top diplomats, cybersecurity and national security experts who said that although the Iranian regime is on the back foot and reeling from Israeli bombardment, it still has the ability to wreak havoc on US soil. A former senior diplomat who had extensive Top Secret security briefings on Iran told that the new 'hot war' between Iran and Israel, and Ayatollah Khameini's increasingly desperate position, has ratcheted up the risk of the regime taking drastic action in the US. 'I can't imagine, seeing how this war is going, that Iran is going to hold back,' said the top ex-US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'They're running out of options, and this is one of the areas in which they've unfortunately been quite effective. 'You can't manufacture new missiles or centrifuges overnight. But you can empower whatever proxies are remaining to act with even more deadly results. 'Assassination attempts, terror attacks, they will of course still try to do those things. It's no secret they have made assassination attempts on US soil, in Washington DC. 'Their capabilities for doing so are becoming less both because of their degrading situation, and also because we're on much higher alert here in DC. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his fellow Ayatollah, an honorific title for high-ranking Shia clergy, have become increasingly desperate, which has ratcheted up the risk of the regime taking drastic action in the US 'But If they employ hacking capabilities on mass infrastructure, our energy grid, our nuclear facilities, major dams, these are all things that are vulnerable.' The former top State Department official said Iran had been pouring money for years into political opposition to US Iran hawks and promoting critiques of its enemies such as Israel on university campuses. But a hail-Mary strategy for the regime action could see Iranian government-backed online activity turn to more dangerous hacking. 'It's not just about stoking up anti-American fervor on campus. It's also about finding the weakest parts of the systems that keep us all safe,' the ex-official said. 'You don't need to bomb trains. You could just have the signals mixed up due to a digital hack and have them run into each other.' Rex Booth, who worked as the chief of cyber threat analysis at the government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, gave a stark warning that Iran's hackers have already infiltrated critical US infrastructure. 'They have a demonstrated ability of infiltrating infrastructure and remaining there undetected for extended periods of time,' he told Booth pointed to a 2013 hack of the control center of the Bowman Avenue Dam in Westchester County, New York by hackers working for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The former top State Department official who chose to remain anonymous said Iran had already been pouring money for years into political opposition to the US and promoting critiques of its enemies, such as Israel on university campuses Former Chief of Cyber Threat Analysis at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, Rex Booth, said even though their 2013 plan failed, Iran's hackers have the potential to produce 'catastrophic consequences' (PICTURED: The seven Iranian hackers) Disaster was averted by luck, as the dam's sluice gate was offline for maintenance at the time. But it was a chilling example of exposed infrastructure. 'The idea is that they can open dams, release water when they're not supposed to, and potentially cause, depending on how the dam is situated, catastrophic consequences downstream,' Booth said. 'We learned, based on observations that the private sector makes as well as government has made, that there is substantial intrusion into our national critical infrastructure by a variety of nation-state actors. 'And our visibility into that intrusion, we know is limited. We know it's happening, we see a portion of it, but we suspect that's a pretty small percentage. 'So when we go to engage adversarial nations in conflict, we have to do so with the knowledge that we don't have full visibility into the extent of the infiltration of these nations into our systems that we depend on day in, day out. And with that comes real risk.' Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has railed against outdated and vulnerable security systems for private dams in his state, stating in a congressional hearing last year: 'I don't want to wake up to a news report about a small town in the Pacific Northwest getting wiped out because of a cyberattack against a private dam upriver.' In 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had just four full-time employees tasked with overseeing 2,500 dams across the US and had not updated its cybersecurity requirements for commercial dam operators since 2016. FERC proposed new cybersecurity standards in September but has not yet implemented them. One insider, EJ Kimball, said Israel has been so effective in its assassination of Iranian and Hezbollah military leaders that terrorists may be confused as to who to take orders from Kimball, who works as Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement for the nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement and is a national security consultant, said the FBI has testified in Congress for years that Iranian support networks operate inside the US National security consultant EJ Kimball told there is 'certainly a risk that the Iranians may escalate things regarding the US.' 'The FBI has reported in congressional testimony over the years about Iranian support networks operating inside the US,' added Kimball, who works as Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement for the nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement. 'It's certainly a big risk that those networks could be activated to carry out terrorist attacks here. 'We know that Hezbollah has been operating in the US for over 25 years, probably over 30 years at this point. Hezbollah is controlled by Iran.' But Kimball added that Israel had been so effective in its lightning assassinations of Iranian and Hezbollah military leaders that potential terrorists may not know who to take orders from anymore. 'Obviously a desperate regime will lead to desperate measures being taken. But those can only be taken if someone is there to give the orders,' he said. 'If you're one of those sleeper cells in the United States that's been here, you would have to be a die hard to actually move forward with it, because there is essentially no path to victory for the Iranian cause. 'The quicker that this war with Iran ends, the less likelihood that those agents would actually activate.' 'There's a lot of bluster. The question is, what is their actual capability? We have to plan for the worst, but expect the best,' Kimball said.
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
EU diplomat warns that Russia has a plan for long-term aggression against Europe
Russia poses a direct threat to the European Union through acts of sabotage and cyber attacks, but its massive military spending suggests that President Vladimir Putin also plans to use his armed forces elsewhere in the future, the EU's top diplomat warned. 'Russia is already a direct threat to the European Union,' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. Advertisement She listed a series of Russian airspace violations, provocative military exercises, and attacks on energy grids, pipelines and undersea cables. Ms Kallas noted that Russia is already spending more on defence than the EU's 27 nations combined, and this year will invest more 'on defence than its own healthcare, education and social policy combined'. 'This is a long-term plan for a long-term aggression. You don't spend that much on (the) military, if you do not plan to use it,' Ms Kallas told EU politicians in Strasbourg, France. 'Europe is under attack and our continent sits in a world becoming more dangerous,' she added. Advertisement Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sergei Bulkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has said that Russia is producing as much weapons and ammunition in three months as the 32 allies together make in a year. He believes that Russia could be in a position to launch an attack on a Nato ally by the end of the decade. The acts of sabotage and cyber attacks are mostly aimed at undermining European support for Ukraine, military officers and experts have said. But concern is mounting in Europe that Russia could try to test Nato's Article 5 security guarantee — the pledge that an attack on any one of the allies would be met with a collective response from all 32. Advertisement In 2021, Nato allies acknowledged that significant and cumulative cyber attacks might, in certain circumstances, also be considered an armed attack that could lead them to invoke Article 5, but so far no action has been taken. With the Trump administration now turning its sights on security challenges in the Middle East and China, Europe has been left to fend for itself, and for Ukraine, and finds itself in a more precarious position. Last week, the head of Germany's foreign intelligence service (BND), Bruno Kahl, warned against underestimating Russian intentions toward the West and Nato. 'We are very certain, and we have intelligence evidence for this, that Ukraine is just a step on the path to the West,' Mr Kahl told the Table Today podcast on June 9, according to German news agency dpa. Advertisement Russia's goal is to expand its sphere of influence westward, the BND chief said. 'They want to catapult Nato back to the state it was in at the end of the 1990s. They want to kick America out of Europe, and they'll use any means to achieve that,' Mr Kahl said. He warned that 'this must be nipped in the bud,' and that deterrence is the 'most bloodless way' to prevent war. Nato countries are set to agree a new defence investment pledge at a summit in the Netherlands next week, pouring billions of dollars more into security-related spending. Advertisement
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
EU's Top Diplomat Warns That Russia Has a Plan for Long-Term Aggression Against Europe
Russia poses a direct threat to the European Union through acts of sabotage and cyberattacks. However, its massive military spending suggests that President Vladimir Putin also plans to use his armed forces elsewhere in the future, the EU's top diplomat warned on Wednesday. 'Russia is already a direct threat to the European Union,' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. She listed a series of Russian airspace violations, provocative military exercises, and attacks on energy grids, pipelines, and undersea cables. Kallas noted that Russia is already spending more on defense than the EU's 27 nations combined, and this year will invest more on defense than its own health care, education, and social policy combined. 'This is a long-term plan for a long-term aggression. You don't spend that much on the military if you do not plan to use it,' Kallas told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. 'Europe is under attack, and our continent sits in a world becoming more dangerous,' she added. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said that Russia is producing as much weapons and ammunition in three months as the 32 allies together make in a year. He believes that Russia could be in a position to launch an attack on a NATO ally by the end of the decade. The acts of sabotage and cyberattacks are mostly aimed at undermining European support for Ukraine, military officers and experts have said. But concern is mounting in Europe that Russia could try to test NATO's Article 5 security guarantee – the pledge that an attack on any one of the allies would be met with a collective response from all 32. In 2021, NATO allies acknowledged that significant and cumulative cyberattacks might, in certain circumstances, also be considered an armed attack that could lead them to invoke Article 5, but so far no action has been taken. With the Trump administration now turning its sights on security challenges in the Middle East and China, Europe has been left to fend for itself and for Ukraine and finds itself in a more precarious position. Last week, the head of Germany's foreign intelligence service (BND), Bruno Kahl, warned against underestimating Russian intentions toward the West and NATO. 'We are very certain, and we have intelligence evidence for this, that Ukraine is just a step on the path to the West,' Kahl told the Table Today podcast on June 9, according to German news agency dpa. 'Russia's goal is to expand its sphere of influence westward,' the BND chief said. 'They want to catapult NATO back to the state it was in at the end of the 1990s. They want to kick America out of Europe, and they'll use any means to achieve that,' Kahl said. He warned that this must be nipped in the bud and that deterrence is the most bloodless way to prevent war. NATO countries are set to agree a new defense investment pledge at a summit in the Netherlands next week, pouring billions of dollars more into security-related spending.
The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
Billions of passwords to be deleted in WEEKS blocking you from logging in unless you move to new app, Microsoft warns
MICROSOFT has warned that billions of passwords are to be deleted within weeks to protect users from the threat of cyberattacks. With the change imminent, Microsoft has issued advice to users to ensure they are not blocked from logging into their accounts. 4 Why are your passwords being deleted? Microsoft has said that passwords saved in its Authenticator app will be deleted in just six weeks times. Instead of using passwords, the company are hoping this decision will encourage more users to embrace passkeys. But why is this happening? The Bill Gates co-founded company explained: 'The password era is ending." And while this may be a surprise to some, consumer technologies publication CNET revealed it is a necessary change as half of all US adults have "risky password habits". These habits include reusing and sharing passwords or choosing easily guessable passwords. What's more, passwords are inherently vulnerable to attacks and phishing. cyberattacks on well-known brands against M&S, Harrods and Co-op. Furthermore, six government agencies were hit by 15million cyber attacks in 2024, amounting to around 40,000 threats a day. 4 According to Microsoft, cyber attackers are aware that users are moving away from relying on passwords for security, which is why they're accelerating password-related attacks while they still can. The organisation said: 'Passkeys not only offer an improved user experience by letting you sign in faster, they aren't susceptible to the same kinds of attacks as passwords.' Passkeys are a passwordless sign-in method, tied to the user's account to make accessing a website or application more secure and easier. Users can use passkeys to authenticate themselves without having to enter a username or password, and there is no need for any additional authentication factor. 4 Microsoft is not alone in encouraging users to find new ways to protect their privacy. Google has also issued similar warnings, but has yet to implement such a forcible method to aid customer data protection. And yet, for some, this change to passkeys will be daunting, especially after Google shared that more than half of their users still do not use the now-outdated two-factor authentication (2FA). When does it come into affect? Some users may have already noticed a difference in their experience, as some changes have already come into effect. June 2025 - Users will no longer be able to save new passwords in Authenticator. During July 2025, users will not be able to use autofill with Authenticator. From August 2025, saved passwords will no longer be accessible in Authenticator. Users need to act to avoid losing access to accounts and applications. What should you do now? 4 The tech giant has incorporated a "Turn on Edge" button in Authenticator, which, when pressed, will securely sync all saved passwords and addresses to a users Microsoft account which can be accessed via Edge. By doing so, users can continue to access their accounts and use functions like autofill. While Microsoft explained that users could move their passwords to Microsoft Edge, they suggested that this is the perfect prompt to convert all passwords to passkeys.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
EU's top diplomat warns that Russia has a plan for long-term aggression against Europe
BRUSSELS — Russia poses a direct threat to the European Union through acts of sabotage and cyberattacks, but its massive military spending suggests that President Vladimir Putin also plans to use his armed forces elsewhere in the future, the EU's top diplomat warned on Wednesday. 'Russia is already a direct threat to the European Union,' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. She listed a series of Russian airspace violations , provocative military exercises , and attacks on energy grids, pipelines and undersea cables.
