Blake Dowling: Why Florida should be worried about Iran cyberattacks

The President of the United States said we would attack Iran recently — and then did not.

However, according to the latest reports, the President directed the U.S. Cyber Command to launch a cyberattack against the Iranian Military.

The target was missile control systems controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which our government designated a terrorist organization last year. This move is in response to the Iranians using a missile last week to shoot down a U.S. drone.

The IRGC has their own hacking department, and the Department of Homeland Security is warning all government entities to be at a heightened state of alert for cyber issues.

This is not the first time the U.S. and its allies have used cyberattacks against the Iranians, back in 2010 the U.S. and Israel deployed a virus in an Iranian nuclear facility that wreaked havoc on the country’s quest for nukes and set them back years. There was a rumor that Slayer music blasted throughout the facility as part of the hack. Don’t mess with the Mossad.

Also, don’t underestimate the Iranians, while it is assessed that they do not possess the same resources as our U.S. Cyber Command this is not their first cyber rodeo.

They have been in the hacking game for a long time.

According to POLITICO, Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement last year called it a “massive and brazen cyber-assault” and “one of the largest state-sponsored hacking campaigns ever prosecuted” by U.S. officials

What do we have to worry about here in the Sunshine State? Everything.

Our cities, including Tallahassee, Stuart, Sarasota, Riviera have all been targets of recent hacks, and there will be more. The Secret Service is still investigating the Tallahassee payroll hack from earlier in the year.

Who knows who is behind all these hacks? Nation-states … or some kid in his mom’s basement?

Nevertheless, the threat is real.

USA Today picked up the Tallahassee story, and they were kind enough to include my quote nationwide. You can check that out here.

Bottom line, there are some irate Iranians (sigh, Middle East pun), planning some nasty cyber-retaliation, so get ready. It’s not just cyberattacks; our nation is also launching a new round of sanctions.

One of our elected officials in Florida had the following to say on the decision to halt military strikes on Iran; freshman U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz shared his thoughts via Fox Business News/Floridian Press.

Waltz thinks “the Iranians will continue to push.”

He explained further: “they’re like a schoolyard bully that will continue taking lunch money until they’re stopped. So, that was some of my concern with not conducting the strike was that at some point, Iranians will have to be met with force.”

While I do not claim to be an expert on the region, I know I would not want Saudi Arabi as my archrival, and I would not want the U.S. and Israel after me either.

Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail … but I doubt it.

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Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies in Tallahassee.