Two days after Iran threatened cyber attacks on America in retaliation for the U.S. airstrikes that killed their number one thug-in-command, General Qassem Soleimani, the homepage of the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program was briefly altered on Saturday. The pro-Iranian images posted on the U.S. government website included an image of bloodied Donald Trump being punched in the face by an Iranian military member.
According to The Gateway Pundit – A warning on the breached website read “in the name of god. >>>>> Hacked By Iran Cyber Security Group HackerS … ;)<<<<<. This is only small part of Iran’s cyber ability! We’re always ready.”
Former Fox News political commentator and investigative journalist, Catherine Herridge, who now works for CBS, tweeted about the cyberattack, saying a former senior security official called it the “cyber equivalent of spray painting unprotected building”
Former senior security official called it “cyber equivalent of spray painting unprotected building” https://t.co/USk5jLJQdF
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) January 5, 2020
CBS News reports- It was not clear that hackers penetrated past the homepage. The damage from the act would be relatively small — more symbolic than destructive.
A spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, acknowledged the hack.
“We are aware the website of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was defaced with pro-Iranian, anti-US messaging. At this time, there is no confirmation that this was the action of Iranian state-sponsored actors. The website was taken offline and is no longer accessible. CISA is monitoring the situation with FDLP and our federal partners.”
A senior U.S. official involved in cybersecurity matters confirmed the incident but dismissed its importance: “This is a nothing event,” the senior official said. “Small, under-resourced agency. A defacement is small-time stakes.”
The senior official added the hackers were likely sympathizers to the Iranian regime but not linked to the government itself.
In a bulletin posted to Twitter, DHS said “Iran maintains a robust cyber program and can execute cyberattacks against the United States. Iran is capable, at a minimum, of carrying out attacks with temporary disruptive effects against critical infrastructure in the United States.”