Trump's Security Team Warns of Iran Cyberattack

Trump administration intelligence and law-enforcement agencies are warning of an "increased risk" of cyberattacks from Iranian actors, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Monday.

Critical infrastructure entities must "remain vigilant" about potential attacks from Iranian threat actions, with defense contractors at particular risk, CISA warned, citing intelligence from it, the FBI, the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, and the National Security Agency.

"Defense Industrial Base companies, particularly those possessing holdings or relationships with Israeli research and defense firms, are at increased risk," the threat assessment document read.

"At this time, we have not seen indications of a coordinated campaign of malicious cyber activity in the U.S. that can be attributed to Iran. However, CISA urges owners and operators of critical infrastructure organizations and other potentially targeted entities to review this fact sheet to learn more about the Iranian state-backed cyber threat and actionable mitigations to harden cyber defenses."

The warning came from the "Iranian Cyber Actors May Target Vulnerable US Networks and Entities of Interest" four-page report as President Donald Trump and Iran are engaged in public verbal sparring amid a temporary Israel-Iran ceasefire.

"This joint fact sheet details the need for increased vigilance for potential cyber activity against U.S. critical infrastructure by Iranian state-sponsored or affiliated threat actors," CISA warned.

CISA has issued the following threat advisory: "CISA works to ensure U.S. critical infrastructure, government partners, and others have the information and guidance to defend themselves against Iran state-sponsored cybersecurity activity.

"Iranian government-affiliated actors routinely target poorly secured U.S. networks and internet-connected devices. Recent Iranian state-sponsored activity includes malicious cyber operations against operational technology devices by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated advanced persistent threat (APT) cyber actors.

"The following actions are key to strengthening operational resilience against this threat: Rapidly mitigate external vulnerabilities, especially in network edge devices and appliances. Do not connect control systems directly to the public internet. Use strong unique passwords with different accounts for monitoring and changing control systems."

Also, the FBI had published a specific threat assessment during former Director Christopher Wray's now-expired term: "Working with our intelligence and law enforcement partners worldwide, the FBI has countered a diverse set of threats directed by the Iranian regime, including attempted terrorist attacks and kidnappings, espionage and foreign influence operations, cyberattacks, sanctions evasion, and illicit procurement of sensitive technology to support Iran’s military capability and nuclear program.

"The Iranian regime has used repressive tactics in its wrongful detention of Americans in Iran on unsubstantiated criminal charges. The Iranian regime has also exported its repression through its harassment and lethal targeting of Iranian dissidents worldwide, including Americans living in the United States.

"The FBI will continue to work diligently to thwart Iran’s violent agenda and use all available authorities to investigate criminal actions directed by the Iranian regime and its terrorist partners like Lebanese Hizballah, including any threats to current or former U.S. officials."

Iran had vowed to avenge the killing of former the IRGC Quds force commander, Qassem Soleimani by threatening assassination of Trump and former Trump administration senior officials.

Before ordering the mid-June strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, Trump was caught on a hot mic on the White House lawn, saying, "I was the hunted, now I am the hunter, a big difference."