Iranian hackers

Pierluigi Paganini March 24, 2018
US imposes sanctions on nine Iranian hackers involved in a massive state-sponsored hacking scheme

The US DoJ and Department of the Treasury on Friday announced charges against nine Iranian hackers for alleged involvement in state-sponsored hacking activities. The US Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury on Friday announced charges against nine Iranians for alleged involvement in a massive state-sponsored hacking scheme, the hackers hit more than 300 […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 07, 2018
Following recent mass demonstration, Iran Infy group may attempt to target protesters and their foreign contacts

Following the recent mass demonstration, the Iran-linked Infy group may attempt to target protesters and their contacts abroad. The crackdown of Iranian authorities on protesters and dissident could have a wide range and involve anyone in contact with them. According to cybersecurity firms and researchers, a nation-state actor called Infy is intensifying its attacks against anyone is […]

Pierluigi Paganini December 07, 2017
HBO hacker linked to the Iranian Charming Kitten APT group

A new report published by ClearSky linked a man accused by U.S. authorities of hacking into the systems of HBO to the Iranian cyber espionage group Charming Kitten. Experts from the security firm ClearSky have published a new detailed report on the activities of Charming Kitten APT group, also known as Newscaster and NewsBeef. The Newscaster group made the headlines […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 16, 2017
Iranian hackers compromised the UK leader Theresa May’s email account along with other 9,000 emails

Iranian hackers compromised 9,000 UK emails in ‘brute force’ cyber attack that was initially attributed to Russian state-sponsored hackers. On June 23, around 9,000 email accounts, including those belonging to Theresa May and other Cabinet Ministers, were hacked in the 12-hour “sustained and determined” attack cyber attack. “According to intelligence officials, the cyberattack “bombarded parliamentary email […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 10, 2017
Iran-linked OilRig hacked group use a new Trojan in Middle East Attacks

The Iran-Linked cyberespionage group OilRig has been using a new Trojan in attacks aimed at targets in the Middle East. Experts from Palo Alto Networks spotted a new campaign launched by the notorious APT group OilRig against an organization within the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The OilRig hacker group is an Iran-linked APT that has been around since at least […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 17, 2017
US Treasury announced sanctions against seven Iranian nationals and other entities

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 11 entities and Iranian nationals for malicious cyber-enabled activity. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 11 entities and individuals for malicious cyber-enabled activity. US Dept. of Treasury announced sanctions against 7 Iranian nationals and security firms […]

Pierluigi Paganini April 28, 2017
The massive attack against Israel was alleged launched by the Iranian OilRig APT group

According to the experts at the security firm Morphisec that massive attack against Israeli targets was powered by the OilRig APT group. Yesterday the Israeli Cyber Defense Authority announced it has thwarted a major cyberattack against 120 targets just days after harsh criticism of new cyber defense bill. In a first time, the authorities blamed a foreign […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 16, 2017
Iranian hackers behind the Magic Hound campaign linked to Shamoon

Security researchers discovered cyber espionage operation dubbed  Magic Hound campaign that is linked to Iran and the recent Shamoon 2 attacks. Security experts at Palo Alto Networks have discovered a new cyber espionage campaign linked to Iran that targeted several organizations in the Middle East. The espionage campaign dubbed Magic Hound, dates back at least mid-2016. […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 08, 2017
Iranian hackers are back with the MACDOWNLOADER MAC malware

An Iranian espionage group has been using an unsophisticated strain of malware, dubbed MacDownloader, to steal credentials and other data from Mac users. A cyber espionage group linked to the Iranian Government has been using an unsophisticated strain of malware, dubbed MacDownloader, to steal credentials and other data from Mac computers. The researchers Claudio Guarnieri and […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 08, 2016
OilRig campaign, Iran-Linked Hackers Target US Government & Energy Grid

OilRig campaign – An Iran-linked hacker group which previously targeted organizations in Saudi Arabia has now set its sights on other countries. Iranian hackers which previously targeted organizations in Saudi Arabia are now targeting organizations in other countries, including the US, as part of a campaign identified as OilRig campaign. In addition to expanding its reach, the group has been enhancing its malware tools. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have been monitoring the group for some time and have  reported observing attacks launched by a threat actor against financial institutions and technology  companies in Saudi Arabia and on the Saudi defense industry. This campaign referred to as “OilRig,” by Palo Alto Networks, entails weaponized Microsoft Excel spreadsheets tracked as  “Clayslide” and a backdoor called “Helminth.”   Bank attacks by the Iran-linked group were analyzed and documented by FireEye in May. Security  Week reports that Palo Alto Networks, “discovered that it has also targeted a company in Qatar  and government organizations in the United States, Israel and Turkey.”  Helminth is delivered, by the threat actors behind OilRig, by way of spear-phishing emails and  malicious macro-enabled Excel documents. For instance, in the caseof a Turkish government organization, the Excel file was designed to replicate a login portal for an airline.  There are four variants of the Helminth malware and the threat, capable of communicating with its  command and control (C&C) server over both HTTP and DNS, can gain information on the  infected device and download additional files via a remote server. One type of Helminth malware  relies on VBScript and PowerShell scripts. Another is deployed as an executable file. Delivered by  […]