US General: Iran’s Cyber Capabilities Expanded, to be Reckoned

Local Editor

US General William Shelton, who heads Air Force Space Command and oversees the Air Force's cyber operations predicted Thursday that Iran will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

However, he declined to comment about Iran's ability to disrupt US government computer networks. "Tehran had clearly increased its efforts in that arena after the 2010 incident."
"Iran responded to a 2010 cyber-attack on its nuclear facilities by beefing up its own cyber capabilities," the senior US Air Force official confirmed.

While no government has taken responsibility for the Stuxnet computer virus that destroyed centrifuges at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility, it was widely reported to have been a US-"Israeli" project.
In parallel, Western analysts stated that Iran has launched increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks in a growing confrontation with its adversaries, including the United States and "Israel", at a time of rising pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

Iran denies Western accusations it is seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and says its program is aimed only at power generation and medical research.

This week, a senior Iranian commander was quoted as saying that the Islamic Republic could disrupt enemy communication systems as part of its growing "electronic warfare" capabilities.

Iranian officials have denied hacking into US banks in recent months, but have devoted resources to building up their cyber defense capabilities after suffering a string of cyber-attacks in the past year targeting industrial sites, an oil export terminal and oil platforms.
"It's clear that the Natanz situation generated reaction by them. They are going to be a force to be reckoned with, with the potential capabilities that they will develop over the years and the potential threat that will represent to the United States," Shelton told reporters.

Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org