Iranian cyberattacks to continue amid ceasefire

Iranian hacking group Handala has declared continuous cyberattacks against Israel and an imminent resumption of cyber operations against the U.S. amid a shaky two-week ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. and Israel, The Associated Press reports.

"We did not begin this war, but we will be the ones to finish it. And let it be clear: The cyber war did not begin with the military conflict, and it will not end with any military ceasefire," said Handala which previously breached leading U.S. medical device firm Stryker and FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email account in a post on X. Multiple cybersecurity experts noted that the U.S. should heed the threats, with Nozomi Networks' Markus Mueller warning of a potential escalation of cyber intrusions against U.S. entities following the ceasefire. Iranian or Russian threat groups may also deploy a massive cyberattack against a U.S.-based target to bypass the truce, noted Mueller.

"With a ceasefire, we will likely see an expansion of cyber activity both in scale and scope. These groups will likely try to execute a high-profile attack such as what we saw with Stryker," Mueller said.