China hackers found to have compromised Iran entities for months
A Chinese hacking group targeted multiple Iranian government bodies in 2022 using advanced malware, according to an industry report.
Chinese hacking group Playful Taurus aimed cyber attacks at Iranian government platforms from July to December of 2022, according to a report published Wednesday by American cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks.
The company’s analysis suggests that four entities of the Iranian government's infrastructure have been compromised by what is known as an advanced persistent threat (APT), or cyberattack campaign with the goal to mine sensitive data.
Among the group's targets were Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Natural Resource Organization, read the findings from Palo Alto Networks' threat intelligence team called Unit 42.
Mohamed Amine Belarbi, the CEO of Cypherleak, a cyber risk monitoring platform based in Dubai and Delaware, saw the attack as means to steal intelligence information and not necessarily to damage the Iranian infrastructure.
