Iran is behind the recent wave of attacks on the online operations of American banks — most likely to avenge economic sanctions and online attacks by the United States, The New York Times reports “There is no doubt within the U.S. government that Iran is behind these attacks,” computer security expert James Lewis, a former State and Commerce departments official, told the newspaper.And the most recent attacks — which have occurred since September at Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, PNC, Capital One, Fifth Third Bank, BB&T, and HSBC —are being launched in a new, more frighteningly powerful way.Security sources tell The Times that instead of zeroing in on individual computers, cyber hackers have engineered networks of computers in data centers, which multiplies the severity of the assaults.“The scale, the scope, and the effectiveness of these attacks have been unprecedented,” Carl Herberger, who is probing the attacks on behalf of banks, told the newspaper.“There have never been this many financial institutions under this much duress.”Claiming responsibility for the attacks is a group called the “Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters,’’ which says they are in retaliation for the infamous anti-Islam video that made fun of the Prophet Muhammad.American intelligence officials tell The Times the group is in reality a cover for Iran.