HOUSTON – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Iran has increased cyber attacks up to 10,000 times per minute over the last two days against state agency computers.
“This is something that everybody in the state of Texas needs to be concerned, prepared and be able to address,” Abbott said on Tuesday during his Domestic Terrorism Task Force meeting in Austin. “It’s my understanding none of those attempted attacks have been successful.”
The previously scheduled meeting took place just hours before Iran launched 15 missiles at two Iraqi bases housing American military forces.
One U.S. official said there were “few, if any casualties,” and President Trump tweeted “All is well!” and “So far, so good!” Adding that he “will be making a statement tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.”
Retired U.S. Army Major E.A. “Buddy” Grantham, who calls Houston home, understands the realities of war better than most and said he was not surprised by Iran’s retaliatory strike.
“I have the full faith and trust that our soldiers on today’s battlefield are going to do everything they can to toe that line to protect the United States,” he said.
“What I can only hope is that the leadership of our nation and national security team are doing everything they can to make sure they’re protecting our soldiers on the front line,” he added.
He said in addition to the threat of cyber attacks, Houston is not immune from other threats if the conflict between the United States and Iran escalates.
“We’re touchable. Houston is one of the most lucrative targets,” he said. “Petrochemical, Houston Ship Channel, oil and gas industry, how many millions of people could you affect rapidly.”
Grantham said, “over at Fort Sam Houston, the army headquarters for north command, that’s in charge of response here in the United States, you know they gotta be on full alert.”