Iran

Pierluigi Paganini August 17, 2024
OpenAI dismantled an Iranian influence operation targeting the U.S. presidential election

OpenAI announced it had dismantled an Iranian influence operation that was producing content related to the U.S. Presidential election. OpenAI has dismantled an Iran-linked influence operation, tracked as identified as Storm-2035, that was generating content about the U.S. presidential election. The company blocked a cluster of ChatGPT accounts that were used to create AI-generated articles and […]

Pierluigi Paganini August 15, 2024
Google disrupted hacking campaigns carried out by Iran-linked APT42

Google disrupted a hacking campaign carried out by the Iran-linked APT group APT42 targeting the US presidential election. Google announced that it disrupted a hacking campaign carried out by Iran-linked group APT42 (Calanque, UNC788) that targeted the personal email accounts of individuals associated with the US elections. APT42 focuses on highly targeted spear-phishing and social […]

Pierluigi Paganini August 15, 2024
A massive cyber attack hit Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks

Iranian news outlet reported that a major cyber attack targeted the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and several other banks causing disruptions. Iran International reported that a massive cyber attack disrupted operations of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and several other banks in the country. The attack crippled the computer systems of the banks […]

Pierluigi Paganini August 11, 2024
Foreign nation-state actors hacked Donald Trump’s campaign

Donald Trump’s campaign reported that its emails were hacked by “foreign sources hostile to the United States.” Donald Trump’s presidential campaign announced it was hacked, a spokesman attributes the attack to foreign sources hostile to the United States. The presidential campaign believes that Iran-linked threat actors may be involved in the cyber operation that is […]

Pierluigi Paganini April 24, 2024
US offers a $10 million reward for information on four Iranian nationals

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four Iranian nationals for their role in cyberattacks against the U.S.. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on four Iranian nationals for their involvement in cyberattacks against the U.S. government, defense contractors, and private companies. OFAC has also sanctioned […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 25, 2024
Iran-Linked APT TA450 embeds malicious links in PDF attachments

In recent campaigns, Iran-linked APT group MuddyWater used a legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solution called Atera. Proofpoint researchers observed the Iran-linked APT group MuddyWater (aka SeedWorm, TEMP.Zagros, TA450, and Static Kitten) was behind a new phishing campaign in March 2024 that attempted to drop a legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solution called Atera on the target systems. […]

Pierluigi Paganini March 02, 2024
U.S. authorities charged an Iranian national for long-running hacking campaign

The U.S. DoJ charged Iranian national Alireza Shafie Nasab for his role in attacks targeting U.S. government and defense entities. The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) charged Iranian national Alireza Shafie Nasab (39) for multi-year hacking campaign targeting U.S. defense contractors and private companies. Targeted entities include the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and State, […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 04, 2024
US government imposed sanctions on six Iranian intel officials

The US government issued sanctions against six Iranian government officials linked to cyberattacks against critical infrastructure organizations.  The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on six Iranian government officials associated with cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure organizations in the US and abroad. “Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of […]

Pierluigi Paganini February 02, 2024
Iranian hackers breached Albania’s Institute of Statistics (INSTAT)

Albania’s Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) announced that it was targeted by a sophisticated cyberattack that affected some of its systems. A sophisticated cyberattack on Wednesday hit Albania’s Institute of Statistics (INSTAT). The institute confirmed that the attack affected some of its systems. Albania’s Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) promptly activated emergency protocols to respond to the […]

Pierluigi Paganini January 02, 2024
Multiple organizations in Iran were breached by a mysterious hacker

Hudson Researchers reported that a mysterious hacker launched a series of attacks against industry-leading companies in Iran. Hudson Researchers reported that on December 20th, a hacker using the moniker ‘irleaks’ announced the availability for sale of over 160,000,000 records allegedly stolen from 23 leading insurance companies in Iran. The hacker claims that stolen data includes […]