America could be hit with 'high-impact' cyberattack targeting energy grid, fmr WH tech chief says
One expert says Iran could hit America with a "high-impact" cyberattack as its confrontation with Israel escalates each day.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei threatened the United States during an interview with Al Jazeera English on Wednesday, saying that American intervention alongside Israel would mean "all-out war."
"Any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region," he said.
Theresa Payton, former White House chief information officer and CEO of the cybersecurity firm Fortalice Solutions, told Fox News Digital that Iran could use cyberattacks as it becomes more and more desperate.
"I think everything's on the table right now as it relates to Iran, especially if they are running out of weaponry and missiles. They could resort to cyber incidents and cyberattacks," Payton said. "So we could see Iran strike everything from everyday citizens to U.S. elected officials, media outlets, as well as critical infrastructure."
Payton said Iran would look to target something that is "high-impact, very visible and very inconvenient." For example, Payton said energy, utility and water supplies could be areas that Iran would want to target in order to cause major disruptions.
Iran has a history of cyberattacks targeting America.
Seven people linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were indicted by the Department of Justice in 2016 for their involvement in a denial-of-service attack on the websites of companies such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Federal prosecutors said the denial-of-service attacks took place against 46 countries, which were primarily in the financial sector.
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The attacks allegedly took place over 176 days and prevented customers from logging on to their online accounts, costing the banks tens of millions of dollars as they responded to the coordinated cyberattacks.
In 2022, three Iranian nationals were indicted after attempting to conduct a cyberattack against Boston Children's Hospital. Then-FBI Director Christopher Wray detailed how serious the threat was during a conference hosted by Boston College.
"We got a report from one of our intelligence partners indicating Boston Children's was about to be targeted, and understanding the urgency of the situation, the cyber squad in our Boston field office raced out to notify the hospital," Wray said. "Quick actions by everyone involved, especially at the hospital, protected both the network and the sick kids that depend on it."
Payton said Iran has a "track record" when it comes to cyberattacks, so the threat should be taken seriously.
"They've done everything from spear phishing political campaigns and getting information from political campaigns. They have masqueraded as government officials. They had actually hit financial services with distributed denial-of-service attacks over the years. And they have hit out at critical infrastructure, not just in the United States, but in other countries as well," she said. "And so they do have a track record of hits and misses as it relates to cyber incidents. And so that's why a cyber intrusion is very much a potential, on-the-table scenario for Iran."
Reuters contributed to this report.