Microsoft uncovers Iranian hacking operation

Microsoft has linked Iranian hackers to cyber attacks against thousands of people at more than 200 companies, including some in Saudi Arabia.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that Microsoft said an Iranian hacking campaign stole corporate secrets and wiped data from computers in an operation that began two years ago.

The cyber attackers went after makers of heavy machinery and oil and gas companies in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, the UK, India and the US, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Microsoft attributed the attacks to a group it calls Holmium, and which other security researchers call APT33. It said Holmium sent phishing emails that can install malicious code to more than 2,200 people.

Governments working with tech security companies have exposed Iran’s widescale cyber-espionage operations as Tehran comes under increased scrutiny from Washington and its partners. In January, cyber-espionage analysts told The National an Iranian group called APT39, which was targeting mainly telecoms industries in the Middle East, had been exposed by the California cyber-security company FireEye.

APT39’s work differs from other Iranian cyber-espionage activities because its prime focus is on stealing personal information, in contrast with other Iranian groups that normally go after traditional government and commercial information, said Benjamin Read, senior manager of cyber-espionage analysis at FireEye.

Last year, Iranian hackers scrambled to break into the personal emails of US Treasury officials after sanctions were reimposed on Tehran, a cyber-security group said. The hacking group, nicknamed Charming Kitten, also took aim at foreign nuclear experts.

In another sign of how deeply cyber espionage is woven into the fabric of US-Iranian relations, nuclear deal defenders and detractors, Arab atomic scientists, Iranian civil society figures and Washington think-tank employees were on the hackers’ hit list. Cyber security is a growing concern for Gulf countries and an increasingly larger consideration in their defence budgets as they try to curb Iranian influence in the region.

In a survey released in Davos about the top risks for businesses in the next 10 years, executives in the UAE focused on technology-related concerns including cyber attacks, data fraud and the misuse of technology.

About $600 billion (Dh2.2 trillion) is lost to cyber crime each year, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.