Several websites of the consumer divisions of large U.S. banks have been down intermittently. The source of the problem was believed to be hackers, but it was not clear if they were a small, unorganized group or something more sinister.

It turns out the “more sinister” is probably the source — hackers set up by people with a relationship to the Iranian government, operating with the support of the regime there. And the attacks might well continue.

According to The New York Times:

The skill required to carry out attacks on this scale has convinced United States government officials and security researchers that they are the work of Iran, most likely in retaliation for economic sanctions and online attacks by the United States.

“There is no doubt within the U.S. government that Iran is behind these attacks,” said James A. Lewis, a former official in the State and Commerce Departments and a computer security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

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