Iran

Pierluigi Paganini November 24, 2019
Iran – Government blocks Internet access in response to the protests

Iran – After the announcement of the government to cut fuel subsidies, protests erupted in the country and the authorities blocked Internet access. After the announcement of the government to cut fuel subsidies, protests erupted in Iran and the authorities blocked access to the internet to prevent the spreading of news, videos, and images online. Initially, mobile […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 21, 2019
UK/US investigation revealed that Russian Turla APT masqueraded as Iranian hackers

A joint UK and US investigation has revealed that the Russian cyber espionage group Turla carried out cyber attacks masqueraded as Iranian hackers. According to the Financial Times, a joint UK and US investigation revealed that Russia-linked cyberespionage group Turla conducted several cyber attacks in more than 35 countries masqueraded as Iranian hackers. The use […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 13, 2019
Charming Kitten Campaign involved new impersonation methods

Iran-linked APT group Charming Kitten employed new spear-phishing methods in attacks carried out between August and September. Security experts at ClearSky analyzed attacks recently uncovered by Microsoft that targeted a US presidential candidate, government officials, journalists, and prominent expatriate Iranians. Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) observed the APT group making more than 2,700 attempts to […]

Pierluigi Paganini October 06, 2019
Iran-linked Phosphorus group hit a 2020 presidential campaign

Microsoft says that the Iran-linked cyber-espionage group tracked as Phosphorus (aka APT35, Charming Kitten, Newscaster, and Ajax Security Team) a 2020 presidential campaign. Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) revealed that an Iran-linked APT group tracked as Phosphorus (aka APT35, Charming Kitten, Newscaster, and Ajax Security Team) attempted to access to email accounts belonging to current and former US government officials, journalists, Iranians living abroad, and individuals […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 30, 2019
Iran’s oil minister orders ‘Full Alert’ for oil sector on against attacks

Iran ‘s oil minister on Sunday ordered representatives of the energy sector to be on ‘full alert’ to the threat of “physical and cyber” attacks. Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, ordered companies operating in the energy sector to be on ‘full alert’ to the threat of “physical and cyber” attacks. “it is necessary for […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 12, 2019
Iran-linked group Cobalt Dickens hit over 60 universities worldwide

Iran-linked Cobalt Dickens APT group carried out a spear-phishing campaign aimed at tens of universities worldwide. Researchers at Secureworks’ Counter Threat Unit (CTU) uncovered a phishing campaign carried out by the Iran-linked Cobalt Dickens APT group (also known as Silent Librarian) that targeted more than 60 universities four continents in July and August. According to […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 02, 2019
The role of a secret Dutch mole in the US-Israeli Stuxnet attack on Iran

Journalists revealed the role of a mole recruited by the Dutch intelligence in the US-Israeli Stuxnet attack on the Natanz plant in Iran. The story of the Stuxnet attack is still one of the most intriguing case of modern information warfare. The virus was developed by the US and Israel to interfere with the nuclear […]

Pierluigi Paganini September 02, 2019
US cyberattack temporarily paralyzed the ability of Iran to target oil tankers in the Gulf

The United States cyber army carried out a cyberattack in June on a database used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to plot attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf. The New York Times revealed that the US carried out a cyberattack in June on a database used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to […]

Pierluigi Paganini August 07, 2019
OilRig APT group: the evolution of attack techniques over time

Security researcher Marco Ramilli presents a comparative analysis of attacks techniques adopted by the Iran-Linked OilRig APT group. Today I’d like to share a comparative analysis of OilRig techniques mutation over time. In particular I will refer to great analyses made by Paloalto UNIT 42 plus my own ones (HERE, HERE, HERE, etc..)  and more personal thoughts. I would define this group […]

Pierluigi Paganini July 01, 2019
Iran-linked APT33 updates infrastructure following its public disclosure

The Iran-linked cyberespionage group APT33 has updated its infrastructure after the publication of a report detailing its activities. In March, Symantec published a report detailing the activities of Iran-linked cyberespionage group APT33 that was targeting organizations in Saudi Arabia and the United States. The APT33 group has been around since at least 2013, since mid-2016, the […]