{"id":195234,"date":"2026-03-12T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/iran-linked-hackers-take-aim-at-us-and-other-targets-raising-risk-of-cyberattacks-during-war\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T13:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:45:09","slug":"iran-linked-hackers-take-aim-at-us-and-other-targets-raising-risk-of-cyberattacks-during-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/12\/iran-linked-hackers-take-aim-at-us-and-other-targets-raising-risk-of-cyberattacks-during-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran-linked hackers take aim at US and other targets, raising risk of cyberattacks during war"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran-linked hackers take aim at US and other targets, raising risk of cyberattacks during war<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/ktar.com\/national-news\/iran-linked-hackers-take-aim-at-us-and-other-targets-raising-risk-of-cyberattacks-during-war\/5834845\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-12 13:23:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: ktar.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Pro-Iranian hackers are targeting sites in the Middle East and starting to stretch into the United States during the war, raising the risk of American defense contractors, power stations and water plants being swept into a wave of digital chaos that could expand if Tehran\u2019s allies join the fray.
\nHackers supporting Iran claimed responsibility for a significant cyberattack Wednesday against U.S. medical device company Stryker. Since the war began Feb. 28, they also have tried to penetrate cameras in Middle Eastern countries to improve Iran\u2019s missile targeting. They have targeted data centers in the region, as well as industrial facilities in Israel, a school in Saudi Arabia and an airport in Kuwait.
\nIran has invested heavily in its offensive cyber capabilities while cultivating ties to hacking groups. In recent years, groups working for Tehran have infiltrated the email system of President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign, targeted U.S. water plants and tried to breach the networks used by the military and defense contractors.
\nThe goal is to wear down the American war effort, drive up the costs of energy, strain cyber resources and cause as much pain as possible for American companies that depend on the defense industry.
\n\u201cSomething is going to happen because the gloves are off,\u201d said Kevin Mandia, founder of the cybersecurity companies Mandiant and Armadin.
\n Who is being targeted
\nPro-Iranian, pro-Palestinian hackers claimed credit for disrupting systems at Stryker, a Michigan-based medical technology company. A group known as Handala said the attack was in retaliation for suspected U.S. strikes that killed Iranian schoolchildren.
\nLike other ideologically motivated hackers, profit is not Handala\u2019s goal, according to Ismael Valenzuela, vice president of threat intelligence at the cybersecurity company Arctic Wolf.
\n\u201cWhat distinguishes this group is its clear focus on data destruction rather than financial extortion,\u201d he said in an email.
\nPolish authorities are investigating a recent cyberattack \u2014 on a nuclear research facility \u2014 that may have ties to Iran, though they acknowledge that another group could be behind the attack and using the Iran war to mask its identity.
\nGoing forward, U.S. defense contractors, government vendors and businesses that work with Israel are likely targets, as is critical infrastructure such as hospitals, ports, water plants, power stations and railways.
\nPro-Iranian hackers openly discuss their plans in Telegram and other online message boards.
\n\u201cThe datacenters need to be taken out,\u201d wrote one user, as uncovered by researchers at U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group. \u201cThey host the brains of USAs military communication and targeting systems.\u201d
\nCyber operations also gather intelligence \u2014 for example, Iran\u2019s effort to hack into cameras in neighboring countries to aid its missile targeting. Infiltrating U.S. networks, meanwhile, would offer view into military planning or supply chains.
\n Going after easy targets
\nThe strikes on Iran\u2019s military as well as internet outages may have limited Iran\u2019s cyberattacks in the short term. But experts say Iranian hackers and their allies will aim for quick victories by targeting the weakest links in American cybersecurity.
\nOften, local water plants or health care facilities lack the funds and know-how to install the latest software patches or take other security steps. That has made them a favorite target, both because of the relative ease of penetrating them and because of the panic these disruptions can cause.
\nThis can include denial-of-service attacks, in which hackers try to jam a network so legitimate users cannot use it, and website defacements, which can prevent a company from communicating with customers. Hack-and-leak operations, where hackers threaten to release sensitive stolen material, are another possibility.
\nThe attacks are not that sophisticated, according to Shaun Williams, a former FBI and CIA officer who is now a senior director at the cybersecurity firm SentinelOne. But if a business or government agency has failed to keep up with its cybersecurity, it could pay a steep price, he said.
\n\u201cPatch your systems. Ensure your firewalls and security solutions are up to date,\u201d Williams said. \u201cRemove your stale accounts. All the cyber hygiene that you should be doing, it\u2019s more critical now than ever. Prepare for disruption.\u201d
\n When it comes to cyber, Iran is considered a chaos agent
\nRussia and China present the greatest cyber threats to the U.S., while North Korea is a growing concern. But what Iran has lacked in resources it has made up for in ingenuity, experts say.
\nIn recent years, Tehran\u2019s digital warriors have impersonated American activists online to covertly encourage protests against Israel on college campuses. They have set up fake news websites and social media accounts primed to spread false and exaggerated claims before big U.S. elections.
\nIn 2024, Iranian hackers infiltrated the email system of the Trump campaign and later tried to disseminate files that the hackers said they stole. Hackers linked to Iran also tried to hack into the WhatsApp accounts of both Trump and his then-Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden.
\nThe activity prompted the Department of Homeland Security to issue a public warning last year about Iranian cyber threats.
\n\u201cIran and especially the proxies don\u2019t care how big or smart you are. This is about making an impact, about creating chaos,\u201d said James Turgal, a cybersecurity expert who spent 22 years as an FBI agent and is now a vice president at Optiv, a Denver-based information security firm.
\n Next moves from Russia and China
\nExperts are watching closely to see if Russia, China or hacking groups allied with either country provide hacking assistance to Iran, mounting attacks intended to undermine American operations in Iran and make it harder for the U.S. to sustain its fight.
\nWhile China has so far taken a cautious approach, there is evidence that pro-Iranian hackers in Russia are already at work. Researchers at the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike detected a surge of activity from Russian hackers in support of Tehran since the war began.
\nOne group known as Z-Pentest claimed responsibility for disrupting several U.S. networks, including some involved in closed-circuit video cameras.
\nThe timing of the attack suggests the hackers were targeting U.S. interests because of the war in Iran, according to Adam Meyers, head of counter adversary operations at CrowdStrike.
\n\u201cWestern organizations should continue to remain on high-alert,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n

Follow @ktar923<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran-linked hackers take aim at US and other targets, raising risk of cyberattacks during war…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Iran_US_Cyber_Threats_98287.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[30,24],"class_list":["post-195234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-breach","tag-cybersecurity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195236,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195234\/revisions\/195236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}