• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Orange reports major cyberattack, warns of service disruptions

 | 

Hackers leak images and comments from women dating safety app Tea

 | 

Pro-Ukraine hacktivists claim cyberattack on Russian Airline Aeroflot that caused the cancellation of +100 flights

 | 

Seychelles Commercial Bank Reported Cybersecurity Incident

 | 

Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Cisco ISE and PaperCut NG/MF flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Critical WordPress Post SMTP plugin flaw exposes 200K+ sites to full takeover

 | 

Scattered Spider targets VMware ESXi in using social engineering

 | 

China-linked group Fire Ant exploits VMware and F5 flaws since early 2025

 | 

Allianz Life data breach exposed the data of most of its 1.4M customers

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 55

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 534 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

Law enforcement operations seized BlackSuit ransomware gang’s darknet sites

 | 

Arizona woman sentenced for aiding North Korea in U.S. IT job fraud scheme

 | 

Operation CargoTalon targets Russia’s aerospace with EAGLET malware,

 | 

Unpatched flaw in EoL LG LNV5110R cameras lets hackers gain Admin access

 | 

Koske, a new AI-Generated Linux malware appears in the threat landscape

 | 

Mitel patches critical MiVoice MX-ONE Auth bypass flaw

 | 

Coyote malware is first-ever malware abusing Windows UI Automation

 | 

SonicWall fixed critical flaw in SMA 100 devices exploited in Overstep malware attacks

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • APT
  • Breaking News
  • Hacking
  • Intelligence
  • CIA covert operations likely behind attacks against APT34 and FSB

CIA covert operations likely behind attacks against APT34 and FSB

Pierluigi Paganini July 16, 2020

CIA orchestrated dozens of hacking operations against targets worldwide, including APT34 and FSB hacks, states an exclusive report from Yahoo News.

In 2018, US President Trump gave to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) more powers to conduct covert offensive cyber operations against hostile threat actors, including Iranian and Russian APT groups and intelligence agencies.

In 2018, Trump signed the Presidential_finding that authorizes covert operations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

According to a report published by Yahoo News reported, the US cyber spies orchestrated at least a dozen operations worldwide.

“The Central Intelligence Agency has conducted a series of covert cyber operations against Iran and other targets since winning a secret victory in 2018 when President Trump signed what amounts to a sweeping authorization for such activities, according to former U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the matter.” states an exclusive report from Yahoo News.

“The secret authorization, known as a presidential finding, gives the spy agency more freedom in both the kinds of operations it conducts and who it targets, undoing many restrictions that had been in place under prior administrations.”

President Trump extended the powers granted to the CIA, which was involved in is offensive cyber operations along with surveillance and data collection activities.

The Presidential directive, driven by the National Security Council and crafted by the CIA, focuses on the possibility to carry out covert actions in cyberspace.  

The “very aggressive” finding “gave the agency very specific authorities to really take the fight offensively to a handful of adversarial countries,” said a former U.S. government official.

The US cyber spies targeted hostile countries responsible for aggressive and dangerous conduct in the cyberspace, such as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

Another official cited in the report explicitly associate these cover operations to the concept of “hacking back.”

“The White House wanted a vehicle to strike back,” said the second former official. “And this was the way to do it.”

“This has been a combination of destructive things – stuff is on fire and exploding – and also public dissemination of data: leaking or things that look like leaking,” a former US government official told Yahoo News.

The Yahoo News report associated several campaigns to the CIA’s covert operations, including:

  • The leak of the tools used by Iranian APT 34 (aka OilRig APT group) on Telegram (March 2019).
  • The leak of the details of 15 million debit cards for customers of three Iranian banks linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Telegram (November 2019).
  • Doxing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) agents on Telegram. The CIA cyber spies are suspected to have leaked online personal details of the Iranian agents, including full names, home addresses, phone numbers, and social media profiles.
  • The hack of SyTech, a contractor for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), and the theft of data about internal projects. According to the Russian media, SyTech has been working with FSB since 2009, in particular, they contributed to several projects for FSB unit 71330 and for fellow contractor Quantum. 

“Although sources wouldn’t say if the CIA was behind those Iran breaches, the finding’s expansion of CIA authorities to target financial institutions, such as an operation to leak bank card data, represents a significant escalation in U.S. cyber operations.” continues the report. “Under prior administrations, senior Treasury Department officials argued successfully against leaking or wiping out banking data, according to former officials, because it could destabilize the global financial system. These were operations the “CIA always knew were an option, but were always a bridge too far,” said a former official.”

CIA officials praised Trump’s decision defining it as “a needed reform” to improve the capabilities of their Agency.

“Regardless, these expansive new cyber powers may become a lasting legacy of the Trump administration, solidifying the greater role the CIA has long coveted in a key arena, and providing the agency with authorities it has desired for three presidential administrations.” concludes the report.

[adrotate banner=”9″][adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Trump)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

APT APT34 China CIA Hacking hacking back hacking news information security news Intelligence Iran IT Information Security malware North Korea Pierluigi Paganini Security Affairs Security News Trump

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 29, 2025
Orange reports major cyberattack, warns of service disruptions
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 29, 2025
Hackers leak images and comments from women dating safety app Tea
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Orange reports major cyberattack, warns of service disruptions

    Security / July 29, 2025

    Hackers leak images and comments from women dating safety app Tea

    Data Breach / July 29, 2025

    Pro-Ukraine hacktivists claim cyberattack on Russian Airline Aeroflot that caused the cancellation of +100 flights

    Hacktivism / July 29, 2025

    Seychelles Commercial Bank Reported Cybersecurity Incident

    Data Breach / July 29, 2025

    Microsoft uncovers macOS flaw allowing bypass TCC protections and exposing sensitive data

    Hacking / July 29, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT