FBI blocked cyberattack on children's hospital

FBI Director Christopher Wray says agents thwarted a planned cyberattack on a Boston children's hospital that was to have been carried out by hackers sponsored by the Iranian government.

Wray told a Boston College cybersecurity conference on Wednesday that the FBI learned of the planned digital attack from an unspecified intelligence partner.

He said the FBI got the hospital the information it needed last summer to block what would've been, in Wray's words, "one of the most despicable cyberattacks" he's seen.

"And quick actions by everyone involved, especially at the hospital, protected both the network and the sick kids who depended on it," Wray said.

The FBI chief recounted that anecdote in a broader speech about cyber threats from Russia, China and Iran and the need for partnerships between the U.S. government and the private sector.

Image: AP