Company: Iran-linked Hackers Attack Israeli Targets

A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
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Company: Iran-linked Hackers Attack Israeli Targets

A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
A man types on a computer keyboard in Warsaw in this February 28, 2013 illustration file picture. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

An Iran-linked hacking group attacked seven Israeli targets over a 24-hour period this week, an Israeli cyber-security firm said, in the latest episode of cyber-warfare between the rival states.

The targets of the attack by the group called "Charming Kitten" included the Israeli "government and business sector", Tel Aviv-based Check Point said in a statement late Wednesday, without providing specifics.

"Check Point has blocked these attacks, as we witnessed communications between a server used by this group and the targets in Israel," said the firm.

"Our reports of the last 48 hours prove that both criminal hacking groups and nation state actors are engaged in the exploration of this vulnerability."

Allegations of cyberwar between Iran and Israel have escalated in recent months.

Israel has been blamed for a series of cyber-attacks on Iranian infrastructure, including the country's fuel distribution system in October.

Another purportedly Iran-linked hacking group called "Black Shadow" claimed an October cyber-attack on an Israeli internet service provider.



Meloni Discusses With Trump Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)
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Meloni Discusses With Trump Case of Italian Journalist Detained in Iran

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with President-elect Donald Trump (center), accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio (right) and Rep. Michael Waltz (left) at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday (EPA)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni surprised on Sunday her allies, both local and regional, after her plane landed at Miami International Airport from where she headed to the Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, to meet President-elect Donald Trump before his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Trump greeted her warmly. The two leaders met for an hour in the presence of Trump’s close aide Elon Musk, who has a close relationship with the Italian visitor.
Sources in the delegation that accompanied Meloni said the PM raised the case of detained Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, who was arrested in Iran last month on charges of espionage.
Meloni is trying to exchange the release of Sala for detained Mohammad Abedini, an Iranian businessman, who was arrested at Milan's Malpensa airport on a US warrant for allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in an attack last January that killed three US service members in Jordan.