Iranian hackers were behind the cyberattack last February on the Las Vegas Sands casino company's websites, Bloomberg Businessweek reported over the weekend. The attack, according to the report, was retribution for comments made by Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, that a nuclear bomb should be dropped in a desert area of Iran to deter it from pursuing nuclear weapons of its own. The cyberattack reportedly shut down thousands of servers and systems, "including those that run the loyalty rewards plans for Sands customers; programs that monitor the performance and payout of slot machines and table games at Sands' U.S. casinos; and a multimillion-dollar storage system." Hackers also took control of the company's websites, posting what looked like a clip-art collage featuring a map with flames where Sands casinos are located, a snapshot of Adelson posing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a message condemning the use of weapons of mass destruction. The hackers also posted employee Social Security numbers and signed their work, "Anti WMD Team." According to documents obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek, investigators from Dell SecureWorks Inc. working for Sands concluded the February attack was likely the work of "hacktivists" based in Iran. While the Dell team was unable to determine whether Iran's government played a role, it is unlikely that any hackers inside the country "could pull off an attack of such a scope without its knowledge, given the close scrutiny of Internet use within its borders," according to the report. A similar large-scale cyberattack occurred recently when hackers, apparently from North Korea, targeted Sony to protest the upcoming Hollywood film "The Interview" -- a fictional film depicting the assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un -- produced by Sony Pictures. Authorities in the U.S. are concerned that hostile states have found a weakness in the ongoing cyberwar, which allows them to inflict considerable damage on American businesses without provoking retaliation from the U.S. government. Las Vegas Sands Corp. runs the largest casino in the world in the Chinese gambling enclave in Macau. It also owns hotel-casinos in Singapore and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Adelson is known for his strong support of Israel. In October, while discussing the Iranian nuclear threat at Yeshiva University in New York, he proposed launching an American nuclear device into the Iranian desert where it "doesn't hurt a soul. Maybe a couple of rattlesnakes, and scorpions, or whatever," to show the Iranians what will be done to them if they don't take the nuclear talks seriously. A Sands spokesperson declined to comment on the latest report of Iranian responsibility, as did the FBI and Homeland Security Department. However, the FBI on Saturday warned American businesses of a sophisticated Iranian cyberattack aimed at defense contractors, energy firms and educational institutions. The FBI's confidential "Flash" report, seen by Reuters on Friday, provides technical details about malicious software and techniques used in the attacks, along with advice on thwarting the hackers. It asked businesses to contact the FBI if they believed they were victims. Cylance Chief Executive Stuart McClure said the FBI warning suggested that the Iranian hacking campaign may have been larger than its own research revealed. "It underscores Iran's determination and fixation on large-scale compromise of critical infrastructure," he said. The Adelson family owns the company that is the primary shareholder in Israel Hayom.
