US sees Iran behind recent cyber attacks

Officials in the United States believe the Iranian government is behind a series of recent cyber attacks upon US financial institutions, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

In recent weeks US banks have been subjected to a massive electronic offensive, with Capital One Financial Corp. and SunTrust being the latest victims, according to the newspaper.

The hackers are apparently part of a group of less than 100 computer security specialists from Iranian universities and network security firms, according to an unnamed US government official, DPA reported.

The cyber attacks, which disabled the US banks' websites, contained "signatures" that led the US to suspect Iranian government culpability.

While details remain classified, the US says the Iranian hackers would not have the resources to carry out the attacks without the support and technical expertise of the Iranian government.

"These are not ordinary Iranians," said a high-ranking US official.