Iran

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 […]

Pierluigi Paganini December 25, 2023
Iran-linked APT33 targets Defense Industrial Base sector with FalseFont backdoor

Microsoft reports that the Iran-linked APT33 group is targeting defense contractors worldwide with FalseFont backdoor. Microsoft says the APT33 (aka Peach Sandstorm, Holmium, Elfin, and Magic Hound) Iranian cyber-espionage group is using recently discovered FalseFont backdoor malware to attack against organizations in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) sector. “Microsoft has observed the Iranian nation-state actor Peach Sandstorm attempting to […]

Pierluigi Paganini November 03, 2023
MuddyWater has been spotted targeting two Israeli entities

Iran-linked cyberespionage group MuddyWater is targeting Israeli entities in a new spear-phishing campaign. Iran-linked APT group MuddyWater (aka SeedWorm, TEMP.Zagros, and Static Kitten) is targeting Israeli entities in a new spear-phishing campaign, Deep Instinct’s Threat Research team reported. The phishing messages were aimed at deploying a legitimate remote administration tool called Advanced Monitoring Agent. This is the first time that the Iranian […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 16, 2023
Iranian Peach Sandstorm group behind recent password spray attacks

Iran-linked Peach Sandstorm APT is behind password spray attacks against thousands of organizations globally between February and July 2023. Microsoft researchers observed a series of password spray attacks conducted by Iran nation-state actors as part of a campaign named Peach Sandstorm (aka Holmium, APT33, Elfin, and Magic Hound). The APT33 group has been around since at least […]

Pierluigi Paganini August 11, 2023
Charming Kitten APT is targeting Iranian dissidents in Germany

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) warns that the Charming Kitten APT group targeted Iranian dissidents in the country. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is warning that an alleged nation-state actor targeted Iranian dissident organizations and individuals in the country. The intelligence agency attributes the attack […]

Pierluigi Paganini July 08, 2023
Iran-linked APT TA453 targets Windows and macOS systems

Iran-linked APT group tracked TA453 has been linked to a new malware campaign targeting both Windows and macOS systems. The Iran-linked threat actor TA453 has been linked to a malware campaign that targets both Windows and macOS. TA453 is a nation-state actor that overlaps with activity tracked as Charming Kitten, PHOSPHORUS, and APT42. TA453 in May 2023 started […]

Pierluigi Paganini June 30, 2023
Iran-linked Charming Kitten APT enhanced its POWERSTAR Backdoor

Iran-linked Charming Kitten group used an updated version of the PowerShell backdoor called POWERSTAR in a spear-phishing campaign. Security firm Volexity observed the Iran-linked Charming Kitten (aka APT35, Phosphorus, Newscaster, and Ajax Security Team) group using an updated version of the PowerShell backdoor POWERSTAR in a spear-phishing campaign. Iran-linked Charming Kitten group, (aka APT35, Phosphorus, Newscaster, and Ajax Security Team) made the headlines in 2014 when experts at iSight issued […]