Associated Press: Iranian Hackers Target Personal Emails of U.S. Officials

On Thursday, December 13, the Associated Press reported in an exclusive story that following the return of U.S. sanctions against Iran, hackers have attempted to breach the personal emails of U.S. officials responsible for enforcing these sanctions. The news agency states that its report is based on information obtained by the cybersecurity group "Sertifa" in London, which indicates that a hacker group often referred to as "Charming Kitten" has attempted to infiltrate the personal emails of over ten officials from the U.S. Treasury Department in the past month. The hackers have also targeted other figures, including advocates of the Iran nuclear deal and global powers, opponents of the deal, Arab nuclear scientists, Iranian civil activists, and think tank staff in Washington. The Associated Press writes that the names of these individuals were leaked when the "Charming Kitten" hackers left one of their servers open on the internet, allowing Sertifa researchers to find it and access a list of 77 Gmail and Yahoo addresses that the hackers were targeting. It appears that this list is only part of the total email addresses that the hackers intend to breach. Sertifa's report, published on Tuesday, has linked these hackers to the Iranian government, stating that this judgment is primarily based on the hackers' own mistakes, such as accidentally revealing that they were conducting operations from inside Iran. The Associated Press notes that Sertifa's report has been confirmed by other cybersecurity entities tracking Charming Kitten, including the group SecureWorks in Atlanta. Iran has previously denied involvement in hacking operations, and the Associated Press states that Iranian officials have not responded to this report.