As a result of Trump pulling the U.S out of the Iran nuclear deal last year and the trade disputes between the U.S and China, Iranian and Chinese hackers heavily attacked corporations and government agencies in the United States. Security experts are of the opinion that these hackers have been fuelled by the conflicts of the past.
Referencing from the briefing of seven people who gave a glimpse of the incidents, the recent attacks which targeted multiple US corporations, government agencies, American banks, and various businesses were more brutal than those which were carried out in past. These people were not permitted to publicly discuss the details.
Analysts and security researchers at National Security Agency sourced the attacks to Iran. Meanwhile, FireEye, which is a privately owned security firm, instigated an emergency order when the government shutdown took place last month. They did so by the Department of Homeland Security.
Reportedly, these Iranian attacks occurred simultaneously with a renewed Chinese offensive configured to steal sensitive data related to military and trade from U.S tech companies and military contractors.
Commenting on the matter, Joel Brenner, a former leader of United States counterintelligence under the director of national intelligence said, “Cyber is one of the ways adversaries can attack us and retaliate in effective and nasty ways that are well below the threshold of an armed attack or laws of war,”
