Iran Strikes Back
Bill Gertz
The Washington Free Beacon
10/15/2012
Iranian hackers took over a University of Michigan computer network during a massive cyber attack on U.S. financial systems last week that continued following comments on the strike by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
According to reports by a leading Internet security-monitoring firm, the cyber attacks against Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and several other U.S. financial institutions began Oct. 8 when hackers gained control of the university’s College of Engineering network in Ann Arbor.
The attack then used automated malicious software to simulate hundreds of thousands of attempts by customers to log in to the banks’ remote access portals, resulting in overloading the networks.
Some of the bank’s operations were slowed or otherwise disrupted, and others were halted during the attacks, which a well-placed security analyst said are continuing.
The company and the analyst declined to be identified over concerns that they would become a future target of cyber attackers…
The article continues at The Washington Free Beacon.
Update: Panetta says cyber attackers accessed controls for critical US infrastructure
Defense secretary bluntly warns were in ‘pre-9-11 moment’ that could precede catastrophic attack, hints Iran involved
