Iran Poses Growing Cyber Threat to US: Study

[Reefa]

Iran poses a growing threat to America's computer networks and has launched increasingly sophisticated digital attacks and spying on US targets, according to a new report released Thursday.

Iran's far-reaching hacking efforts indicate the regime is searching for vulnerable infrastructure that could be hit in future cyber assaults, said the study by private cyber security company Norse and the American Enterprise Institute think tank.

"Iran is emerging as a significant cyber threat to the US and its allies," the study said. Iran's skill in the cyber realm has markedly improved in recent years and "Iran has already penetrated well-defended networks in the US and Saudi Arabia and seized and destroyed sensitive data," it said.

The hacking, including espionage and attacks, has expanded despite economic sanctions and high-stakes negotiations between Iran and world powers on Tehran's nuclear program, it said.

The study cited data from a network of millions of sensors set up by Norse. The sensors are designed to look like real websites or other computer systems -- for banks or power plants -- that might attract the interest of a hacker.

The data showed Iran was staging cyber assaults and probes from inside Iran as well as outside the country.

Iranian state companies, including some with links to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, are allegedly hosting servers and other computer systems located in the West to carry out digital attacks, according to the report.

"Simply by registering and paying a fee, Iranian security services and ordinary citizens can gain access to advanced computer systems and software that the West has been trying to prevent them from getting at all," the study said.

The report argued that the hacking conducted outside Iran could be countered by Western companies that own the systems and software, denying access to Iranian organizations already blacklisted for rights violations or links to militants.

The study reflects warnings from US intelligence officials that Iran has made strides in its cyber capabilities, though China and Russia are considered the most skilled when it comes to digital warfare.

Hacking casinos, banks

National Intelligence Director James Clapper in February blamed Iran for a cyber attack on Sands Casino in Las Vegas that stole confidential data and shut down many of the casino's operations.

The assault came after the billionaire owner of Sands, Sheldon Adelson, said in 2013 that "Iran should be nuked."

US intelligence officials also believe Iran was behind denial of service attacks on major US commercial banks in 2011 and a damaging malware assault on Saudi Arabia's oil and gas company, Saudi Aramco, in 2012.

Iran's cyber prowess has grown since it suffered a devastating digital attack on its uranium enrichment plants in 2010.

The United States and Israel orchestrated that operation, which employed a computer worm dubbed "Stuxnet" introduced through an infected USB flash drive, according to reports from the New York Times.

Similar to the Stuxnet attack, Iran also has focused on SCADA systems, or supervisory control and data acquisition systems, that are used to manage industrial operations at factories or electrical grids, according to the study.

Sensors that emulate such SCADA systems "were probed several times in the course of our study's timeframe," over the past 13 months, it said.

"It seems clear that elements within Iran are working to build a database of vulnerable systems in the US, damage to which could cause severe harm to the US economy and citizens."

Under a framework nuclear agreement, international economic sanctions would be lifted on Iran. And the report's authors argue that removal of sanctions would allow Tehran to devote more resources to cyber warfare.

"Whatever the final outcome of the nuclear negotiations, we must expect that the threat of a cyber attack from Iran will continue to grow," the authors wrote.

Cyber security firms such as Norse often portray digital threats as numerous and increasing. But it was unclear if Norse would have an incentive to link hacking to any specific state.

securityweek.com

[dMog]

iran poses more than a cyber threat...and NOT just to America

[humble3d]

iran poses more than a cyber threat...and NOT just to America

That's a fact, Jack!

But, they do have much human

Medical information which is

usually ignored in the west...

Islamic Medicine

History of Medicine

The Islamic Golden Age, spanning the 8th to the 15th Centuries, saw many great advances in science, as Islamic scholars gathered knowledge from across the known world and added their own findings.

One of these important fields was Islamic medicine, which saw medical practice begin to resemble our modern systems. Certainly, this period of the history of medicine was centuries ahead of Europe, still embedded in the Dark Ages.

Central to Islamic medicine was belief in the Qur'an and Hadiths, which stated that Muslims had a duty to care for the sick and this was often referred to as "Medicine of the Prophet." According to the sayings of the Prophet Muhammed, he believed that Allah had sent a cure for every ailment and that it was the duty of Muslims to take care of the body and spirit. This certainly falls under the remit of improving the quality of healthcare and ensuring that there is access for all, with many of the Hadiths laying down guidelines for a holistic approach to health.

Initially, in the early days of Islam, there was some debate about whether Islamic physicians should use Greek, Chinese and Indian medical techniques, seen by many as pagan. After intense debate, the Islamic physicians were given free rein to study and adopt any techniques they wished.

Islamic Medicine, Hospitals and Qualifications

The major contribution of the Islamic Age to the history of medicine was the establishment of hospitals, paid for by the charitable donations known as Zakat tax. There is evidence that these hospitals were in existence by the 8th Century and they were soon widespread across the Islamic world, with accounts and inventories providing evidence of at least 30.

These hospitals, as well as providing care to the sick on site, sent physicians and midwives into the poorer, rural areas, and also provided a place for physicians and other staff to study and research. These hospitals varied in role, some aimed at serving the general population, with others providing specific services, such as the care of lepers, the disabled and the infirm.

The system of educating physicians was well structured, usually on a tutorage basis, and the reputation of the individual physicians in certain areas ensured that students would travel from city to city to learn with the best. In addition, the Islamic physicians were meticulous with their recordkeeping, partly as a way to spread and share knowledge, but also to provide notes for peer review in case the physician was accused of malpractice.

The Islamic Physicians and Their Discoveries

Many Islamic physicians made outstanding discoveries in all aspects of medicine during the Islamic Golden Age, building upon the knowledge of Galen and the Greek and adding their own discoveries. The most notable Islamic scholar in the history of medicine was al-Razi.

--MORE--

https://explorable.com/islamic-medicine

[flitox]

wow iran could pose a threat a us economy lol but who has an us embargo since 1979, fucking up their economy.... who are they dare to fight it back a little....

maybe americans leader should start thinking a bit more and decide that the country of israel should move to mainland US and that the usa should given them one of their state for their state. at least there israel would be safe and one of the problems of the middle east would be solved!

[dMog]

wow iran could pose a threat a us economy lol but who has an us embargo since 1979, fucking up their economy.... who are they dare to fight it back a little....

maybe americans leader should start thinking a bit more and decide that the country of israel should move to mainland US and that the usa should given them one of their state for their state. at least there israel would be safe and one of the problems of the middle east would be solved!

simplistic answers like the one above serve no purpose but to make conflicts harder to resolve.... the same simplistic type response would be to build a huge wall around france and not allow anyone/anything to enter or to leave...just because some countries do not like france and their policies......

[flitox]

yep of course, but you forgot that israel is an 'artificial' country that exists since the end of WWII and that the USA were the main supporter of its creation.

palestine at the time was an english protectorate and the english were against the creation of israel cause they knew it would cause problem to the area.

i suoopse you have heard of the exodus and such events (i quite sure the english even ended killing some holocaust survivors trying to sneak in, by sinking their boat or something else)

so if the aim of israel is only to provide a safe place for the jew to live, well palestine is not really to good spot and you cant blame palestine people for not being happy about that.

did they even have a word to say about that? i'm not really sure about about that.

so since the usa are so keen to give jew people a state, why don't they give them a piece of their land instead of taking one fromsomeone else!

simplistic idea, yeah dude! but maybe better than all sophiticated solutions proposed until now that have all failed!