From: The Hill | Overnight Cybersecurity

By Cory Bennett and Katie Bo Williams

–A WALK TO REMEMBER: The Obama administration is preparing to publicly blame Iranian hackers for the 2013 cyberattack on a New York dam, according to U.S. officials familiar with the investigation. The Justice Department is preparing an indictment against the alleged hackers, CNN reports. The incident in question, revealed to the public in December, occurred amid a wave of Iranian hacks on U.S. banks and just three years after a computer worm believed to be built by the U.S. and Israel damaged nuclear infrastructure in Iran. Investigators said the hackers didn’t take control of the dam’s system but were probing its defenses. The White House was alerted when officials initially believed the intrusion occurred at a much larger facility in Oregon. The breach was still classified as of December, but it fits a pattern openly described by U.S. officials who warn that hackers from Russia, Iran and China are testing U.S. critical infrastructure networks for vulnerabilities. The Department of Justice has declined to comment, but the public attribution is seen as part of an Obama administration strategy in recent years to identify the countries and, if possible, the individuals behind cyberattacks as a means of deterrence. “The administration has converted to the idea that there has to be consequences for bad behavior and that they have to signal places like Iran about behaving in cyberspace,” said James Lewis, an international cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. To read our full piece, click here.

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