Iran could target satellites, critical systems, cybersecurity expert warns
Iran could target satellites, critical systems, cybersecurity expert warns
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-891285
Publish Date: 2026-03-26 08:39:00
Source Domain: www.jpost.com
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. The United States must be prepared for the possibility that the Islamic regime may attack telecommunications satellites in space and continue to target critical civilian infrastructure, former White House Chief Information Officer Theresa Payton told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday morning.Payton, now the CEO of the cybersecurity company Fortalice Solutions, spoke with the Post only days after the US finally established the long-awaited Bureau of Emerging Threats, which has been tasked with safeguarding national security interests against cyberattacks, the weaponization of space, and other rapidly evolving threats.Acknowledging Tehran lacks the same skill and technology as the US and Israel, Payton cautioned against underestimating the regime, saying she expected Iran to “flex its digital muscles” as it finds itself in an increasingly desperate situation.Unable to target critical infrastructure, the regime has sought targets disconnected from the conflict, she said.Stryker Corporation, an American medical device company, was among the latest targeted, as the regime’s hackers are now grasping at any way to inflict damage, she explained.An illustration of a cyber hacker and the Iranian flag. (credit: FOTOGRIN. Via Shutterstock)The company, which manufactures defibrillators and ambulance cots, admitted two weeks ago that it was experiencing global outages extending to Ireland as a result of a cyberattack.Iran seen expanding cyber war to satellites, civilian targetsThe Hanadala group publicly claimed credit for the attack, though the US Justice Department described the incident as part of “psychological operations” run by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.“The way they got away with what they did with Stryker is they had to have had some coaching, because typically, their capabilities are not as stealthy and sophisticated as what we at least initially know about the Stryker cyber incident,” she assessed.The Post, noting the recent phishing scam posing as Israel’s Home Front Command, asked Payton whether the average American citizen was suitably prepared and informed for Iran’s tactics.In response, Payton said she was confident in the “book smarts and street smarts” of Americans but admitted busy people, stressed with the realities of daily life, were more vulnerable to mistakes when it comes to cybersecurity.“When I think about cyber operatives who have nefarious intent, they could teach a master class in human behavior,” she noted. “And so when they get to know their target, and they think a little bit about what buttons to press on this target, so they will ignore all their training, ignore all the things they know, and they’ll do what I want them to do. And so they will actually study us, study our processes at work, study things at home, and then their social engineering campaign will be that much more effective.”“Iran is known for being fairly effective in social engineering,” she continued. “Now they can use voice cloning. Now they don’t even have an accent barrier, they don’t have a language barrier, they don’t even have a technical barrier. To pull off a voice cloning social engineering scam, all they have to do is go to LinkedIn and do a lot of their intel there. That’s a free tool, and they can see who works for whom, who their boss is, and then start to do their social engineering campaign.”She advised that Americans should have a protocol in place, such as a codeword, to establish whether the person on the phone is who they say they are, and should be cautious in any situation where they feel emotionally rushed into something.“I am very concerned about their ability to social engineer their way into government agencies and to private sector businesses through social engineering,” she admitted.She added that Washington may also want to consider public service announcements on cybersecurity to better prepare the American public for the threat.“Here’s enough distance and space where this feels like a war that’s very far away,” she explained. “We have incredible empathy and sympathy for everybody who is in this conflict and living around this conflict, but at the same time, it’s not every minute of every day for Americans, because it feels so far away. And so the idea that the next text that I get is going to be a nefarious cyber operative operating on behalf of Iran…. I don’t think its at the top three list. People are used to thinking about IRS fraud, toll fraud, you have package fraud, you know, all of those kinds of things are probably top of mind. This (the Iranian threat) is probably not.”Asked about the sturdiness of the regime’s cyber capabilities, given reports dating back years on the country’s brain drain, Payton said she “wouldn’t rule out” Iran recruiting from China, Russia, and North Korea.“It could also be that they recruit, and people don’t even know who they’re doing the attack for,” she theorized on the issue of lone wolf attacks being carried out from across the globe. ”So I don’t hold it out of the realm of possibility that even if Iran’s cyber capabilities were to be struck, that they would just give up and stop doing it…”Payton also noted that much of Tehran’s cyber operations does not rely on advanced technology, as social media can provide a wide reach at little cost.“It’s very clear that they’re taking advantage of social media to promote propaganda. So everything from deep fakes leveraging AI social engineering, those are all on the table,” she said. “And because they’re going to be scrappy and resourceful and potentially higher talent from other countries, we can’t let our guard down as it relates to the digital side, even if they have an immense brain drain.”Iran’s social media activities have produced threats on multiple levels, she noted. Firstly, the disinformation campaign has made it harder to distinguish real news from fake.Addressing the disinformation campaign surrounding the status of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Payton said the fake death of a world leader was not on her “2026 bingo card.”“I wrote a book called Manipulated, which is on propaganda and using deep fakes… I thought nothing would shock me anymore. I was like, ‘Wow, people really believe this. This is insane.’ So I believe that because Iran, it’s almost like they got a little bit of a charge out of it… I do expect them to be emboldened by that and continue to promote and propagate misinformation,” she predicted, adding that Tehran has refined its techniques by practicing on its own population.All this fake information works to radicalize lone wolf attacks in the US, she said, convincing “people to do horrible things in the name of thinking they’re doing the right thing.” For this reason, Payton said the US needs to follow other countries in teaching digital citizenship and critical thinking skills.While a danger on US soil, the misinformation campaign could produce more devastating results in the Middle East, where it can help shape generations of thinking about the West, the US, and Israel, she stressed.“The long-term consequences are devastating for diplomacy, because what you end up having is a view of America and, candidly, Israel and other countries, that becomes generational, and it becomes very hard to undo,” Payton commented, adding that free and open access to the internet could also counteract false narratives by offering people a glimpse into the reality of countries they have never visited, an opportunity that is being denied by Iran’s ongoing internet blackout.“I do believe, over time, one of the greatest gifts we can give to the world, as in the United States is to get access to the internet to people around the world in a way that is safe and secure, and private, so that they have their own way to reach out to us and tell us about human rights issues, but to do their own fact finding missions and maybe make friends around the world,” Payton shared. “That’s the only way I believe for true regime change over time.”Sidestepping questions on whether past administrations could have better prepared America’s cybersecurity sooner, Payton welcomed the opening of the bureau as a major step forward, though she noted there were some ambiguities in its mission.“It’s going to be focused on cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and disruptive technology. Now the question I have in my mind is disruptive on whose side? Disruptive technology aimed at us, or disruptive technology aimed at the adversary? So little, you know, a little bit left unanswered there,” she commented.One key area of concern, she added, is that technology advances far faster than policy, and if the bulk of the bureau’s work centers on shaping or responding to policy, it may struggle to keep pace with nefarious actors.
