(Washington) Hackers backed by the Iranian government tried to hack into a major U.S. children’s hospital in 2020, U.S. Federal Police Director Chris Wray said on Wednesday, saying they were dissuaded from it once the Americans caught wind of the project.
Posted at 1:13 p.m.
“In the summer of 2020, Iranian government-sponsored hackers attempted to carry out one of the most despicable cyberattacks I have ever seen. […]when they tried to target Boston Children’s Hospital,” Mr. Wray said in a speech at Boston College about computer threats.
The senior official said US authorities had been tipped off by an intelligence partner that the hospital was about to be attacked.
“Realizing the urgency of the situation, the Cyber Squad from our Boston office was quick to notify the hospital,” he said. “Right away, we were able to help them identify and then reduce the threat. »
The FBI director did not provide details about which branch of the Iranian government was behind the threat, and did not say how the attack would have harmed the hospital if successful.
But according to him, this is representative of the rise in threats coming from actors supported by States and aiming, with blows of cyberattacks, the institutions and the infrastructures of adversaries.
Mr. Wray also said the FBI was scrambling to deal with Russian threats related to the war in Ukraine, noting that it had been able to deter a potentially devastating attack on American businesses and institutions by the military intelligence agency GRU in March.
“We expect their cyber activities to become more disruptive as the war continues to fare badly for them,” he said. “We have seen the Russian government take specific preparatory measures for potential destructive attacks. »
According to him, China is studying the conflict in Ukraine to extract information that would help in its own war on the web.
The Chinese are “trying to figure out how to improve their own ability to deter or harm us in an assault on Taiwan”, he said.
“We need to study what is happening with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and learn from it, because clearly we are not the only ones paying attention,” he added.