Free Republic

Seven hackers tied to the Iranian government were charged Thursday in a series of punishing cyberattacks on a small dam outside New York City and on dozens of banks -- intrusions that reached into American infrastructure and disrupted the financial system, federal law enforcement officials said. The hackers were charged in indictments unsealed and announced at a Justice Department news conference in Washington. All seven worked for Iranian computer companies that did work on behalf of the Iranian government, the U.S. said. The attacks on the U.S. financial sector from 2011 to 2013 disabled bank websites and caused tens of...

The first nationstate warfare took place between soldiers on the ground, and then ships at sea. In the 20th Century, the battles moved into the skies. On Thursday, the Justice Department claimed Iran had attacked U.S. infrastructure online, by infiltrating the computerized controls of a small dam 25 miles north of New York City, heralding a new way of war on American soil. “We can tell the world that hackers affiliated with the Iranian government attacked U.S. systems, and we seek to bring them to justice for their crimes,” Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said, unveiling charges against seven...

n February, Iranian hackers took down the computer system of gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson’s casino empire, wiping hard drives clean and shutting down email. Las Vegas Sands, the world’s largest gaming company, was devastated by the attack. But until a Bloomberg Businessweek report Thursday night, the company had never revealed the extent of the hack. Coming months before the recent hack on Sony Pictures, the hit on Sands is now believed to be the first major destructive cyberattack on a U.S. business, although there are likely others that have gone unreported. From the instant the offensive started, Las Vegas Sands...