Crossroads Blog | Institute National Security and Counterterrorism

cyber attack

Cyber spying expands in Iran: Reuters

On August 29th, 2012, Jim Finkle reported for Reuters on the cyber espionage campaign targeting the Middle East.  Notably, the article described the Mahdi Trojan, a less sophisticated piece of malware that “lets remote attackers steal files from infected PCs and monitor emails as well as instant messages.”  Mahdi has mostly gone after firms and government agencies in five Middle Eastern countries, with a focus on Iran.  The article quoted a researcher who believes that hacktivists are probably behind the Trojan, and they may have nation-state backing.

Kim Zetter had a great article for Wired about Wiper, the malware that recently targeted Iran’s oil industry.

I missed out on Gauss while I was away, but it seems like the Middle East is suffering from a new piece of malware every few weeks.

 

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