Obama urged to sanction Iranian hackers

Legislation proposed Thursday in the House calls on President Obama to impose sanctions against Iranians involved with waging cyberattacks against American targets.
Rep. John Ratcliffe, Texas Republican, said in a statement that his Iran Cyber Sanctions Act of 2016 would require the Obama administration to sanction individuals linked to the Iranian government in accordance with an April 2015 executive order that authorized the Treasury to take action against suspected state-sponsored hackers.

Proposed in the wake of a companion bill being offered in the Senate by Mike Rounds, South Dakota Republican, the bicameral push comes two months after the Department of Justice announced charges against seven hackers accused of targeting the computers of American banks and a New York dam on behalf of Tehran.
Although U.S. intelligence officials have downplayed the abilities of Iranian hackers in the past, Mr. Ratcliffe this week said the administration must ensure it takes appropriate responses against individuals who are targeting American networks.
“The danger posed by Iran’s increasingly sophisticated cyber capabilities has grown significantly over the past few years, and we must take these threats seriously,” he said in a statement.