The attacks allegedly took place over 176 days and prevented customers from logging on to their online accounts, costing the banks tens of millions of dollars as they responded to the coordinated cyberattacks.

In 2022, three Iranian nationals were indicted after attempting to conduct a cyberattack against Boston Children’s Hospital. Then-FBI Director Christopher Wray detailed how serious the threat was during a conference hosted by Boston College. 

Iran could target everyday Americans, a former White House official said. (Alex Potemkin/Getty Images)

“We got a report from one of our intelligence partners indicating Boston Children’s was about to be targeted, and understanding the urgency of the situation, the cyber squad in our Boston field office raced out to notify the hospital,” Wray said. “Quick actions by everyone involved, especially at the hospital, protected both the network and the sick kids that depend on it.”

Payton said Iran has a “track record” when it comes to cyberattacks, so the threat should be taken seriously.

Smoke rises from the building of Iran’s state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo)

“They’ve done everything from spear phishing political campaigns and getting information from political campaigns. They have masqueraded as government officials. They had actually hit financial services with distributed denial-of-service attacks over the years. And they have hit out at critical infrastructure, not just in the United States, but in other countries as well,” she said. “And so they do have a track record of hits and misses as it relates to cyber incidents. And so that’s why a cyber intrusion is very much a potential, on-the-table scenario for Iran.”