A cybersecurity specialist has warned that Iran launched cyber attacks against the US last week, cautioning that “the current threats are just the opening salvo.” Following reports that Iranian hacker groups targeted President Donald Trump’s personal website, Truth Social, global leaders have started to issue warnings that such attacks are likely to persist. Arnie Bellini, co-founder and former CEO of ConnectWise, elaborated: “The recent wave of attacks are known as denial of service attacks. And they’ve been hosting those on banks, defence contractors, energy firms, and hilariously, Truth Social. So you know it’s a direct shot at President Trump’s attack on their nuclear facilities, and it happened as soon as the nuclear plants were hit, so it was a direct response.” This comes amidst concerns over the president’s health following a noticeable sign spotted in his trousers. Regrettably, Bellini suggests the US may be ill-prepared to deal with such threats. Many businesses and local governments fail to adequately invest in cybersecurity, reports the Mirror US . In some extreme cases, local municipalities, unable to afford proper cyber protection, could become victims of future Iranian attacks. “Hackers are going to try to erode public trust in their ability to use computer systems,” he warns, potentially leading individuals to suspect there are ‘spies’ in their computers. “So it’s terror. Think of it as cyber cyberterrorism. If you were to plot a terrorist attack on the United States of America, it’s going to be the same strategy,” Bellini adds. Last week, Homeland Security issued guidelines on impending Iranian attacks, confirming that Iranian ‘hacktivists’ have consistently targeted US businesses with weak cybersecurity for years. The National Terrorism Advisory further stated that Iranian leaders, along with the leaders of their proxies in the Middle East – Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – have ‘sent advisories’ encouraging ‘violence on US assets’ following the tense bombings of Iranian nuclear sites. “And we know who it is,” Bellini elaborates. “These are groups that are loosely affiliated with Iran. There’s plausible deniability on the part of the Iranian government because they simply award contracts to IT firms eager to hack. It’s like a payment to hack. It’s literally a professional service contract.” So far, we’ve primarily tracked and observed attacks from Iranian hackers, although two pro-Palestinian hacktivist groups claimed they targeted over a dozen aviation firms, banks, and oil companies, as reported by ABC. Researchers at the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors hacking groups activities noticed a call to arms for other hackers coming from the responsible groups. “They have groups that are known to work with Iran, such as ‘Mysterious Team’ and a group called ‘313 Team,’ and they’re just quiet, state-backed by Iran with professional service contracts essentially.” Iran has a history of launching significant cyberattacks, with Saudi Aramco and the Sands casino among its previous targets. Recent Iranian cyber activity has honed in on Israeli entities, including missile alert systems and think tanks. When questioned about the likelihood of a more severe attack on US-based companies, Bellini warns, “It’s probably going to happen. Assuming this was sort of an opening salvo, the next likely phase would be a coordinated and escalated blended threat,” he elaborates. While the initial wave of attacks were DDoS, which typically disrupts site visitors or payment methods, the cybersecurity expert predicts that the subsequent steps will likely involve combined attacks. Bellini anticipates the use of DDoS attacks in conjunction with phishing, as well as other traditional tactics, to ‘create pandemonium… with geopolitical intent.’. For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters .