US Cyber Attack on Iranian Ship: Stopping Intelligence Flow to Houthi Rebels #Cyberwar
Feb 24, 2024
US Cyber Attack on Iranian Ship: Stopping Intelligence Flow to Houthi Rebels #Cyberwar
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we're back with exclusive reporting on a
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recent American covert operation that
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targeted an Iranian vessel in the Red
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Sea three us officials have told NBC
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news that the US carried out a Cyber
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attack on this Iranian ship that is
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suspected of collecting and sharing
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intelligence with Yemen's houy Rebels
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NBC News Pentagon correspondent Courtney
0:19
Q joins us now from the Munich security
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conference in Germany So Courtney what
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are we learning about how this operation
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and why this operation was carried
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out so initially when we were hearing
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about this retaliatory action that the
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US was planning to take after the death
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of three US service members in Jordan we
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were hearing from us officials that
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there would be the kinetic piece so air
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strikes but there would also be a cyber
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component and we're now learning a
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little bit more about that cyber piece
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it included a Cyber attack on an Iranian
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military vessel more than a week ago now
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the goal here was to stop this vessel
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from being able to collect information
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targeting information that the Iranian
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military was then pres uh providing to
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the houthi rebels of course you guys
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know the houthis have been firing on
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Commercial and even military ships in
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the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aiden for
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weeks now in fact as recently as today
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theyve been trying to Target Target
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these ships now the majority of their
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efforts with anti-ship cruise missiles
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drones and even unmanned sea vessels or
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what we might call Sea drones the
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majority of those efforts have been
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unsuccessful but they have at times been
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able to hit some commercial ships at
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times even causing fires on board and
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damage to those ships the goal with this
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Cyber attack according to these us
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officials was to stop this ability to
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Target these ships and according to the
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officials they believe their efforts
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here were successful Courtney we
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actually know the Iranians had
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previously warned the us not to attack
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this particular ship what purpose are
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they saying it serves to give us more
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information on that and also is the US
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now bracing for retaliation for this
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attack
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yeah so the way that this has been
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working is that we've seen what the
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military doesn't like to talk about it
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but the reality is there has been a Tit
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for Tat here so when there has been a
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strike there has generally been a
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Counter Strike so the US is definitely
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concerned about the possibility for some
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sort of reciprocal action from Iran here
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most likely that would look like a Cyber
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attack but the reality is so far we've
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not seen anything like that and Courtney
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quickly could we see more cyber attacks
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like this in response to what's
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happening in the Middle
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East
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absolutely so I think that the reality
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is if they have seen this as a
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successful method or measure that's been
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able to stop the Iranians from gathering
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this information and share it with the
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houthis we should expect to see more of
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this all right Courtney Q thank you so
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much thanks for watching stay updated
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