(RoyalPatriot.com )- This month, suspected Iranian hackers targeted the emails of important Israeli and American executives and officials. The personal email accounts of these people were targeted by several phishing assaults, according to the Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point, which linked references to security issues affecting Israel and Iran.
This incident was made public just days after U.S. FBI Director Christopher Wray described at a conference how hackers supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran attempted to launch a “despicable” cyber-attack last year that was intended to target the Boston Children’s Hospital.
To target its enemies, Iran has prioritized developing its offensive cyber-warfare capabilities. China and Russia both have highly developed cyber skills. The world’s reliance on digital infrastructure and our opponents’ increasing capabilities have increased the frequency and scope of attacks, even though the United States is often considered the most “cyber-capable” country.
According to the Israeli business Check Point, the latest cyberattack against American, Israeli, and corporate executives is thought to have been carried out by the Iranian organization Phosphorus. According to The Times of Israel, the breach came from an Iranian IP address, and a commented-out part of the code points to involvement by the Phosphorus organization.
Since its start, the Iranian cyber organization has carried out many other noteworthy attacks. Microsoft claimed that in 2020, a Phosphorus organization with Iranian ties targeted an unnamed U.S. presidential campaign, which Reuters ultimately identified as the Trump campaign. According to Microsoft, the organization took action to seize control of the dozens of domains Phosphorus used to hack the personal accounts of Trump campaign employees.
The group’s most recent hacking campaign targeted a small number of people, including Tzipi Livni, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and a well-known retired major general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Iranian group allegedly “performed an account takeover of some victims’ inboxes and then hijacked existing email conversations to start attacks from an already existing email conversation between a target and a trusted party and continue that conversation in that guise,” according to a statement released by Check Point.
Israel and the U.S. are on high alert for Iranian hacking operations. Microsoft revealed that an Iranian cyber gang had attacked Israeli and American businesses last October. Over 250 Office 365 subscribers were the subject of extensive password spraying, according to MSTIC and Microsoft Digital Security Unit (SDU).
A few months before Microsoft’s declaration, the FBI prevented an attack on Boston Children’s Hospital. FBI Director Christopher Wray said that while the U.S. focuses on Russia, “we cannot relax on China, Iran, or criminal syndicates.” While the Kremlin hacks Kyiv as part of its invasion, the US remains susceptible. A coordinated Iranian-Russian cyberattack might affect American security.
