Trump Replaces Noem as Homeland Security Chief, Names Oklahoma Senator as New Head

Emily Harding, vice president of the defense & security department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reacted to news that President Trump decided to oust Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and replace her with Senator Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma. Harding said that in the face of a changing landscape on domestic threats and conflict with Iran, she hopes that the Mullin will sharpen the department's focus on cyber issues.

US companies and critical infrastructure facilities are on alert for a surge in disruptive cyber threats from Iran-affiliated groups and traditional ransomware criminals as US-Israeli led attacks against Iran continue to reverberate across the Middle East.

Cyber threat intelligence researchers say they’re already seeing an uptick in cyber operations in the region and are cautioning organizations, from flagship American brands to defense-adjacent businesses and critical infrastructure entities, against looming cyber threats in the US. At the same time, they’re urging a dose of skepticism as Iranian-affiliated groups have a history of exaggerating the scale of their attacks.

The researchers and lawyers anticipate Iranian retaliation against US entities in the short and long term via mostly low-level, but public-facing attacks, such as defacing company websites or overwhelming public servers to disrupt services. The Iran-affiliated groups will likely be seeking to send a message, as opposed to stealing sensitive information, the cyber professionals said. The escalation of conflict in the Middle East should spur organizations to review cyber incident response plans, share threat intelligence with other companies and government agencies, and aim to fix unpatched vulnerabilities, they say.

“They want to make a little bit of a show of it. It’s not about a long term material impact, but they want to be able to point and say, ‘Look at big brand X, this US brand. We took them down.’ And they’ll be bombastic in how they talk about it,” said Alexandra Rose, head of government partnerships and director of the counter threat unit at Sophos, an AI-powered cyber solutions provider. “If you are a flagship American brand, you’re synonymous here with the US. Those are additional considerations.”

The risk of elevated cyber threats comes as a lapse in funding for the last three weeks has shut down many operations at the Department of Homeland Security and its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is responsible for protecting critical infrastructure. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement she is in “direct coordination with our federal intelligence and law enforcement partners” as the department continues to “closely monitor and thwart any potential threats to the homeland.”

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