Tag: iran
So It’s Cyber-War…
As Iran prepares to avenge its recent humiliating ground defeats with concerted cyber-attacks on the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a stark warning to the medical sector. “Manufacturing infrastructure can be particularly vulnerable with connected devices, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and smart technologies becoming more ubiquitous. These connected technologies, considered Operational Technologies (OT), have historically been designed to prioritize consistent functionality over cybersecurity. Consequently, it is sometimes difficult to tell what, when, and where communications are happening, which has the potential to increase the risk of a cybersecurity incident,” warns the FDA.
Pro-Iran Hackers Likely to Target the US – June 24th
The US Department of Homeland Security warns the public that hacktivists and Iranian government-affiliated actors will likely target US networks, following the air strikes launched on Iranian nuclear sites on June 13, 2025.
White House phone hack rings alarm bells
An attempt to impersonate White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is currently being investigated by US federal agencies. The incident highlights the ongoing dangers posed by key individuals using their personal phones to store the phone numbers of important contacts, now that voice cloning enables cybercriminals to mimic anyone’s voice with ease.
Cybercriminals Weaponize Google AI assistant
Cybercriminals have been quick to see nefarious possibilities in search engine giant Google’s new Gemini 2.0 AI assistant. According to Google’s own findings, nation-state-backed threat actors are already leveraging Gemini to accelerate their criminal campaigns. The actors are using Gemini 2.0 for “researching potential infrastructure and free hosting providers, reconnaissance on target organizations, research into vulnerabilities, payload development, and assistance with malicious scripting and evasion techniques,” says Google.
US water supply threatened by cyber-attacks
The USA’s drinking water is under threat. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 97 drinking water systems serving around 27 million users have critical or high-risk cybersecurity. Although the EPA’s latest report focuses on the potential financial costs of cyber-attacks, there is also strong evidence that such attacks could also result in significant loss of life, with thousands or even millions of people being deliberately poisoned by terrorists or a hostile foreign power. “We estimate that a [California] state-wide water service disruption could potentially cost at least $61 billion in lost revenue per day,” says the EPA report, Cybersecurity Concerns Related to Drinking Water Systems.
Ticketmaster Breach Data Posted on New BreachForums – May 31st
The 'ShinyHunters' threat actor group posted data from a Ticketmaster data breach, potentially belonging to 560M users, asking for $500K in exchange for the data. Analysts at Vx-Underground analyzed a sample of the Ticketmaster data and determined that the data was authentic, containing entries dating back to 2011.
Cyber-attackers try to divert a commercial flight
Airline security has just entered a new era with the news that on Saturday, cybercriminals hacked the communications network on a commercial flight and tried to divert the plane to a fake destination, putting it in the hands of the gang. On Sunday, EL AL Israel Airlines confirmed the attack on one of its planes. During the attack, instructions were given to the El Al crew that differed from their set route, alerting them to the possibility that terrorists were planning to crash the plane or that their attackers were planning a kidnapping. However, despite the nationality of the airline concerned, the motive behind hacking into the airline’s communications is thought not to have been primarily political. Although the attack took place over an area where Iran-backed Houthis are known to be active, it is believed that the hackers are most likely based in Somaliland, which last month signed a controversial territorial agreement with neighboring Ethiopia.
China and Iran launch lethal attacks on US infrastructure
The White House has issued an urgent appeal to all US state governors to prepare to cope with their water systems being attacked and taken down by Chinese cyber-attacks. Iran, which has honed its industrial espionage techniques via consistent attacks on Israel’s infrastructure, is also proving effective in taking down water facilities in the US. The letter from the White House contains a stark warning that attacks on US water facilities are no longer a potential threat but an increasingly frequent event with real-world consequences. It was signed by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Jake Sullivan, and by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan.
FBI declares cyber-war on China
US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Christopher Wray used his keynote speech at the weekend’s Munich Cyber Security Conference, which many regard as the security version of Davos, to effectively declare cyber-war on the People’s Republic of China (PRC). “Our adversaries have been improving exponentially,” warns Wray. “Chief among those adversaries is the Chinese government…the cyber threat posed by the Chinese government is massive.” Wray added that China’s hacking program is larger than that of all the other major world nations combined and that the PRC is using AI technology stolen from the Western powers to vastly increase the present threat. The FBI director told the major world powers assembled in Munich at the weekend that a new enhanced level of cooperation between government agencies such as his and the private sector is the only way to counter this new Red Menace.
Ransomware Attacks Decline by 11% in 2023 – February 21st
IBM X-Force released a report, disclosing that ransomware attacks declined by 11.5% in 2023, compared to 2022. IBM says the decline in ransomware attacks is largely due to the new cybercrime focus of infostealing tactics which rose by 32%. IBM X-Force's report gathered data for the report based on 150 billion daily security events from 130 countries last year.
Exclusive interview with top military scientist
In an exclusive interview with Cyber Intelligence, top Israeli military scientist Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel reveals that Iran has tested a missile in space that could strike the UK and assesses the likelihood and nature of a full-scale outer-space cyber war and why children should be taught cybersecurity in elementary school.
11 Romantic AI Chatbots Fail Security Tests – February 15th
The Mozilla Foundation released research that unveils that all 11 romantic AI chatbots tested, failed security and privacy tests. All 11 chatbots feature data privacy concerns, pulling much more data than is needed from the collective 100 million users of these chatbots. Mozilla urges these chatbots to minimize exploiting vulnerable users through more transparent data privacy practices.