By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Iranian hackers have been hard at work attacking Western targets.
One of the most notorious hacker groups is nicknamed Rocket Kitten.
The name was dubbed by Western analysts as they were identifying the group.
The group has done some serious damage. Rocket Kitten has launched attacks against EU infrastructure as well as countries within the EU. There have also been attacks launched against Israel especially academics.
The Iranian hackers are using a malware called GHOLE and they have launched a series of continuous operations of attack. One is called Operation Woolen Goldfish. It is a fishing campaign to get the targets to open a link - and then the hackers are in. They successfully compromised 1,600 high profile targets and are now able to spy on them through this operation and discover their secrets.
There is good news. Some of the links that people were lured to click on were not closed. That enabled counter measures and Western analysts have been able to crawl in and follow, watch and infect the infectors.
At one point earlier this year Iran had a foothold in five major satellite communications systems in Europe - they are the data hosting and communications systems of much of Europe. With their malware and spyware, Iran was deeply bedded inside.
After Western analysts burrowed in, they saw the map of what Iran was able to see and realized that it was a total picture of some very sensitive material. Iran had set up a command and control center which was being hosted - unknowingly, by the West inside their supposedly secure data and communications systems.
Now Western analysts have begun counter measures and they have declawed Rocket Kitten. According to the official reports written by Western techies the Iran infection is no longer in the system.
This is a huge setback for Iranian intel and a defeat for Iranian hackers. It is a great victory for the West.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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