Late last month while testifying before Congress, James Clapper,
director of national intelligence, described a harrowing computer hack
perpetrated by Iran.
The hack took place late at night on February 10, 2014. The computer
screens flickered and then went blank at the Las Vegas Sands Corp, the
company which trades on the stock exchange as LVS and grosses $14.5
billion per year.
The breach was at the Sands Bethlehem, PA location and the passwords of
administrators, especially from the slots department, were stolen. An
11 minute video recorded the breach. From there the hackers were able to
reach some of the internal drives of the Sands Corp.
One would think that people who hack one of the largest casino purveyors
in the world, a company with casinos in Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore
would be after the money. It would be a storyline straight out of
Hollywood, another sequel to the Ocean’s Eleven movies.
But this was different. It was quickly discovered that this hack came
out of Iran. The hackers did not take a dime. They wanted access to
information and personal data–not money. Their goal was to be
disruptive—and for seven days they succeeded in reaching their
goal. But the casino was able to hide the hack and the games played on
usual. Only the website was shut down for a week to purge and clean
everything inserted and unwanted out.
Director Clapper said that this hack was on a par with the North Korean hack
on Sony. Actually, it was more significant than the Sony hack. That
took place in November, this computer piracy was perpetrated in
February, a full nine months earlier.
The Sands Corp. kept the entire episode under wraps. Until December
there was not a single murmur about it. And then last month Clapper
needed to let loose the secret in order to explain to Congress that
hacking of U.S. systems is more pervasive than believed. Iran and North
Korea are both targeting U.S. companies.
This casino corporation was targeted by Iran for clear and distinctive reasons.
The majority share holder in LVS is the founder of the company—Sheldon
Adelson, one of, if not the, largest single contributor to Israel in the
world. Mr. Adelson does not hide his love for Israel nor his disdain
for its enemies. He has clearly explained his point of view regarding
Iran and whether or not he feels they can be trusted. Without mincing
words Mr. Adelson has, on numerous occasions, advocated nuking the
Iranians. He is also a huge supporter of the Republican party and has
pledged to support any candidate who can defeat Hillary in 2016.Iran
thinks of Sheldon Adelson as a significant threat, a threat capable of
mounting serious damage to Iran. Iran’s hackers were sending a message,
not stealing money. If it was only money, their message would be
diluted. The message they sent is that Shelly Adelson’s empire is
vulnerable. Iran was sending a message: We can mess with anyone.
Of course, Iran does not understand Adelson. They never would have imagined that the man who is so often in the public spotlight—and so public a figure that even Thomas Friedman singles
him out in a recent column—would keep the entire situation secret,
denying them the pleasure of gloating. But Adelson shuns publicity. The
fact that he is in the spotlight is not him seeking PR.
There are several essential takeaways from this revelation. The most
critical is that Iran has become an extremely effective force in
cyberterror and attacks. The Iranians will certainly attack U.S.
interests again. And then there is the knowledge that they are hitting
civilian and business targets, not limiting themselves to government or
military targets.
The Iranians want prestige and respect. They want to instill fear.
Sheldon Adelson was wise not to draw attention to their prowess. But I
will be very surprised if he does not, somehow, respond to this bold
breach of his empire.