Iranian Ransomware Programs Take Cybersecurity Experts by Surprise

Ransomware encrypts files on a victim’s computer. The perpetrator then demands ransom payments in exchange for decrypting the files and sometimes also threatens to leak the victim’s data. (Reuters)
Ransomware encrypts files on a victim’s computer. The perpetrator then demands ransom payments in exchange for decrypting the files and sometimes also threatens to leak the victim’s data. (Reuters)
TT
20

Iranian Ransomware Programs Take Cybersecurity Experts by Surprise

Ransomware encrypts files on a victim’s computer. The perpetrator then demands ransom payments in exchange for decrypting the files and sometimes also threatens to leak the victim’s data. (Reuters)
Ransomware encrypts files on a victim’s computer. The perpetrator then demands ransom payments in exchange for decrypting the files and sometimes also threatens to leak the victim’s data. (Reuters)

Iranian hackers have recently launched cyberattacks against vital institutions and facilities in the United States, raising the concern of law enforcement authorities in the country.

These attacks are added to various others launched by several parties against the US.

With much attention this year on Russian ransomware attacks against the US, the Iranian threat may come as a surprise, said a report by the Foreign Policy magazine, adding that Iranian ransomware groups were quietly emerging as a global force to be reckoned with elsewhere in the world.

On November, the US, Britain and Australia issued a joint warning that Iranian actors have conducted ransomware attacks against US targets and gained access to a wide range of critical infrastructure networks, including the children’s hospital, that would enable more attacks, the report read.

Experts in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC) and the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) found out that an ongoing malicious cyber activity by an advanced persistent threat (APT) group is associated with the government of Iran.

Ransomware encrypts files on a victim’s computer. The perpetrator then demands ransom payments in exchange for decrypting the files and sometimes also threatens to leak the victim’s data.

“The Iranian government-sponsored APT actors are actively targeting a broad range of victims across multiple US critical infrastructure sectors,” the experts warned.

While Iranian ransomware may be relatively unfamiliar to Americans, it has been a part of everyday life in Israel for more than a year, the US magazine noted.

“Iranian actors have targeted almost every sector of Israel’s economy and society.”

The report pointed out that Iran’s successful use of ransomware against Israel has likely emboldened it to expand its focus to the United States.

In September 2020, an Israeli cybersecurity firm first detected Iranian ransomware activity against unspecified “prominent Israeli organizations.”

Another hacking group, Black Shadow, believed to be linked to Iran, was accused of carrying out a major cyberattack in October targeting an Internet service provider in Israel.

The report warned that Iran’s ransomware campaign appears to be on the brink of global expansion.

In 2019, a report prepared by researchers at the US giant Microsoft Corporation said that Iranian hackers are working to infiltrate systems, companies and governments around the world, causing damages amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Some believe these attacks may be part of Iran’s attempts not only to influence cybersecurity and its open conflict with its “rivals” but also to obtain foreign cash, especially the US dollar, to break the blockade imposed on it.



Nobel Laureate Mohammadi Says Iran Issuing Death Threats

Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
TT
20

Nobel Laureate Mohammadi Says Iran Issuing Death Threats

Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP

Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for women's and human rights in Iran, has received death threats from Tehran, the Nobel Committee said Friday.

Mohammadi, who has spent much of the past decade behind bars, was released from Tehran's Evin prison in December for a limited period on medical leave, with her legal team repeatedly warning that she could be re-arrested at any time, AFP reported.

Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said in a statement he had received an "urgent phone call" from Mohammadi, 53, who said her life was now in danger.

"The clear message, in her own words, is that 'I have been directly and indirectly threatened with 'physical elimination' by agents of the regime'," he said.

"The threats conveyed to Ms. Mohammadi make it clear that her security is at stake, unless she commits to end all public engagement within Iran, as well as any international advocacy or media appearances in support of democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression," the statement added.

The Committee said it was "deeply concerned" about the threats against Mohammadi and "all Iranian citizens with a critical voice, and call upon the authorities to safeguard not only their lives, but also their freedom of expression."

Mohammadi has been repeatedly tried and jailed for her vocal campaigning against Iran's widespread use of capital punishment and its mandatory dress code for women.

She won the Nobel primarily for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran. Her children collected the award on her behalf as she was in prison at the time.