How to protect your financial institution from foreign cyberattacks

Tensions in the Middle East are high following the U.S. government’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top-ranking military general. Iran retaliated in the early hours of January 8, launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles against two military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq.

In addition to missiles and military maneuvers, Iran is also no stranger to cyber warfare. In 2016, the U.S. charged seven hackers linked to the Iranian government with executing large-scale coordinated cyberattacks on dozens of banks, as well as a small dam outside New York City.

Two days before the missile strike, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a bulletin warning of Iran’s ability to carry out attacks with temporary disruptive effects against critical infrastructure in the U.S., and for American companies to be prepared for “cyber disruptions, suspicious emails, and network delays.”

Just one day after DHS released the bulletin, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said his state has seen a spike in attempted cyberattacks from Iran on state agency networks at the rate of about 10,000 per minute.

 

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