While most Americans remain unaware, the global economic war is expanding at a frightening pace. Last week, it was revealed that the Iranians were behind the computer hacking of our banks and financial system Here are excerpts from a story in The New York Times:
Bank Hacking Was the Work of Iranians, Officials Say
By NICOLE PERLROTH and QUENTIN HARDY Published: January 8, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — The attackers hit one American bank after the next. As in so many previous attacks, dozens of online banking sites slowed, hiccupped or ground to a halt before recovering several minutes later.But there was something disturbingly different about the wave of online attacks on American banks in recent weeks. Security researchers say that instead of exploiting individual computers, the attackers engineered networks of computers in data centers, transforming the online equivalent of a few yapping Chihuahuas into a pack of fire-breathing Godzillas.
The skill required to carry out attacks on this scale has convinced United States government officials and security researchers that they are the work of Iran, most likely in retaliation for economic sanctions and online attacks by the United States.
“There is no doubt within the U.S. government that Iran is behind these attacks,” said James A. Lewis, a former official in the State and Commerce Departments and a computer security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Mr. Lewis said the amount of traffic flooding American banking sites was “multiple times” the amount that Russia directed at Estonia in a monthlong online assault in 2007 that nearly crippled the Baltic nation. [Continue reading at The New York Times….]
To be sure the Iranians have denied involvement. But, U.S. officials remain steadfast in their belief that Iran is behind the attacks. We have already reported that an economic war was underway with Iran. Here are links to those prior posts:
Iran’s Secret Weapon Threat
Our Paper or Their Oil?
We also have covered the fact that the attacks were focused on banks and our financial system:
Radical Islam is Attacking our Financial System, Banks, and Stock Exchange
Was Osama bin Laden an Economic Terrorist?
Osama bin Laden Documents Prove Financial Terrorism?
Unfortunately, the government appears to be treating these continuing and growing acts of war as isolated incidents. They are not. These are deliberate battles in a full-scale, escalating war that will determine our economic future. It is not just the Iranians. There are regular attacks emanating from China, Russia, Venezuela, and other parts of the Middle East. Computer hacking is just one of many weapons being deployed. Our side has been fighting as well, albeit on an ad-hoc basis. The problem is that most Americans are unaware, ignorant of the very real risks to their economic future.