US Lawmakers Slam Iran-Backed Cyberattack On Boston Children’s Hospital

The ranking member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has condemned the cyberattack by Iran-backed hackers on Boston Children’s Hospital last summer. 

Describing the attempted attack as “deeply disturbing,” Idaho’s Republican Senator Jim Risch said in a tweet on Wednesday that “it’s typical of a regime that’s synonymous with global terrorism.”

He also expressed gratitude to the FBI and other security agencies that continue “to keep America safe from Iran’s malign activity.” 

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray disclosed the news about the “despicable” attack by hackers sponsored by Iran Wednesday, warning of rising threats of cyberattacks sponsored by nation states like Iran, Russia and China to companies and US infrastructure.

“If malicious cyber actors are going to purposefully cause destruction, or hold data and systems for ransom, they tend to hit us somewhere that’s really going to hurt,” Wray added. 

Arkansas’ Tom Cotton, another Republican senator, also reacted to the news, urging the Biden administration to hold Tehran accountable and not to reenter an agreement with the Islamic Republic.

“Instead of giving sanctions relief to the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism, Joe Biden should start holding Iran accountable,” Cotton said.

Iran has been repeatedly accused of cyber-attacks against the West, Israel and rival Arab countries in the Middle East.