The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) put the nation on alert Sunday to the dangers of cyberattacks and other retaliatory measures that could be launched by Iran following the June 21 bombings of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States.
“The ongoing Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States,” DHS said in a National Terrorism Advisory Bulletin issued on June 22.
“Low-level cyberattacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct attacks against US networks,” DHS said.
Both hacktivists and Iranian government-affiliated actors “routinely target” poorly secured U.S. networks and Internet-connected devices for disruptive cyberattacks, the agency said.
The alert, DHS said, runs through Sept. 22.
In the same advisory, DHS warned that “Iran also has a long-standing commitment to target US Government officials it views as responsible for the death of an Iranian military commander killed in January 2020.”
“The likelihood of violent extremists in the Homeland independently mobilizing to violence in response to the conflict would likely increase if Iranian leadership issued a religious ruling calling for retaliatory violence against targets in the Homeland,” DHS said.