Microsoft: Iran Accelerates Its Cyber Influence Operations Worldwide

The logo of American Microsoft on its pavilion at a world tech fair in Barcelona last year. (AFP)
The logo of American Microsoft on its pavilion at a world tech fair in Barcelona last year. (AFP)
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Microsoft: Iran Accelerates Its Cyber Influence Operations Worldwide

The logo of American Microsoft on its pavilion at a world tech fair in Barcelona last year. (AFP)
The logo of American Microsoft on its pavilion at a world tech fair in Barcelona last year. (AFP)

Microsoft warned that Iran is accelerating its cyber-enabled influence operations to go in tandem with its geopolitical goals worldwide.

“Iran continues to be a significant threat actor, and it is now supplementing its traditional cyberattacks with a new playbook, leveraging cyber-enabled influence operations (IO) to achieve its geopolitical aims,” a report published by the company on Tuesday revealed.

Microsoft has detected these efforts rapidly accelerating since June 2022.

Microsoft said it attributed 24 unique cyber-enabled influence operations to the Iranian government last year compared to just seven in 2021.

The report added that most of Iran’s cyber-enabled influence operations are being run by Emennet Pasargad – which is sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for attempts to undermine the integrity of the 2020 US Presidential Elections.

Though Iran’s techniques may have changed, its targets have not. These operations remain focused on Israel, prominent Iranian opposition figures and groups, and the Gulf countries, according to Microsoft.

“Iran directed nearly a quarter (23%) of its cyber operations against Israel between October of 2022 and March of 2023, with the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia also bearing the brunt of these efforts.”

The goals of its cyber-enabled IO have included seeking to bolster Palestinian groups that are allied to Iran, fomenting unrest in Bahrain, and sowing panic and fear among Israeli citizens.

“Iran has also adopted cyber-enabled IO to undercut the momentum of nationwide protests by leaking information that aims to embarrass prominent regime opposition figures.”

Microsoft added that most of these operations have a predictable playbook, in which Iran uses a cyber persona to publicize and exaggerate a low-sophistication cyberattack, using the language of the target audience.

“New Iranian influence techniques include their use of SMS messaging and victim impersonation to enhance the effectiveness of their amplification”, the report added.



Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
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Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A series of dozens of earthquakes were recorded in the span of hours in Guatemala, leaving two dead when rocks fell on their vehicle, authorities said. Landslides left several others buried.

More than 37 earthquakes and aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.6 were reported in Guatemala Tuesday afternoon, said Edwin Rodas, director of the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology.

The tremors resulted in the evacuation of buildings, landslides, and minor property damage, officials said, adding they were felt as far away as El Salvador.
The two men killed were traveling in a pickup truck on a local road in the department of Escuintla when the rocks fell from a hillside onto the vehicle, firefighters said, according to The Associated Press.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said at a press conference Tuesday that the main epicenter of the quakes was in the department of Sacatepéquez, with aftershocks in the regions of Escuintla and Guatemala department.

At least five people were buried by landslides, but emergency responders were able to rescue two, he added.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction declared an orange alert, the second-highest on the emergency scale.

The US Geological Survey reported a 4.8 magnitude earthquake at 3:11 p.m. local time, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southwest of the town of Amatitlán, south of Guatemala City, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). It then reported another 5.7 magnitude quake 3 kilometers (2 miles) northwest of San Vicente Pacaya, a municipality in Escuintla, in the south-central region of the country.

Another 4.8 magnitude quake was reported 6 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of Palín, also in Escuintla.