Iranian piracy targeted officials in America and Europe



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Christmas has witnessed malicious spyware attacks against high-ranking employees targeted by Iranian intelligence in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, according to security research firm CERTFA.

A hacker cell called APT 35, also known as “the kitten”, launched a fraudulent electronic campaign in December, with fake messages that appeared to be birthday wishes with malicious spyware inside.

Written messages “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year” are sent by email, and behind each greeting is an invitation to click to access an e-book presentation.

The report cites what was said in one of the letters: “This year I decided to make my friends happy with my latest book. Here’s a Christmas present that I hope you enjoy.”

The hacking cell is linked to the Iranian government and is known for its intelligence gathering operations through campaigns against US diplomats and defense officials.

The report said that this time the cell targeted a large number of high-level employees, including “members of think tanks, political research centers, university professors, journalists and environmental activists.”

The hackers used sophisticated techniques to hide their identities and sent messages using real URLs in Google so that the recipient would feel safe and open the message.

Pirates associated with the Iranian regime are active on the internet and sometimes pose as journalists and activists on social media.

And Facebook announced last October that Iranian hackers suspected of sending threatening messages to American voters were also responsible for launching a false information propaganda campaign targeting the Middle East last year.

US officials also pointed the finger at Iran, late last year, for its involvement in sending thousands of emails, in which it threatened Democrats for taking on the name of a US group aligned with the Republican Party.

Microsoft stated that the attacks that came from Iran also targeted the individual accounts of people surrounding the campaign of US President Donald Trump.

Along with Russia, North Korea and China, Iran is among the four countries in which the largest number of information pirates are active, according to Western experts.

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