Cyber Police: Theft from 90 Jewelry Stores in Tehran via Computer Malware

The head of Cyber Police in Greater Tehran reported that the computer systems of 90 jewelry stores were infected with the 'keylogger' malware, resulting in the theft of 34 million and 800 thousand tomans from these stores. According to a report on Wednesday, December 8, Mohammad Mehdi Kakavan stated that the suspects in this case, after infecting the computer systems of these jewelry stores, also stole their banking operation information. This Cyber Police official (Cyber Production and Information Exchange of NAJA) added that the suspects, who have been arrested, confessed to installing the keylogger malware on the computer systems of jewelry stores in some areas of Tehran via a flash drive. The police official noted that the lack of antivirus or outdated antivirus software on the computer systems of these jewelry stores made it easy for their systems to become infected with the keylogger malware. A keylogger is software that records keystrokes on a keyboard, allowing for the theft of users' typed information, such as their passwords. In recent years, internet activities in Iran have led to crimes such as internet theft and online fraud, with Kamal Hadianfar, the head of Cyber Police, stating that 60% of these 'violations' are related to unauthorized withdrawals. Hossein Sajedi-Nia, the commander of Tehran's police, also reported the arrest of 723 individuals in the first eight months of 2015 on charges of committing 'internet crimes.' 'Fraud,' 'hacking computer systems,' and 'selling unauthorized goods' were among the charges against the arrested individuals.