Wall Street Journal: Iranian Hackers Attack 200 International Entities and Companies

On Wednesday, March 6, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the American company Microsoft, that Iranian hackers have infiltrated approximately 200 companies and government entities worldwide over the past two years, causing them hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. According to the report, Microsoft researchers stated that Iranian hackers not only stole confidential information but also erased this data from networks. The American institution also reported that hackers affiliated with the Iranian government were responsible for a cyberattack on the Australian Parliament. Microsoft believes these attacks are linked to 'Holmium,' a group connected to Iran. Additionally, part of this cyber operation was carried out by another Iranian group called 'APT 33' for 'Holmium.' John Limbert, head of the Threat Intelligence Center at Microsoft, told the Wall Street Journal that these attacks have been widely 'destabilizing.' The report adds that these hackers targeted companies in the oil, gas, and heavy machinery sectors, as well as major international companies in Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US. FireEye, a well-known cybersecurity company, accused the 'APT 33' group in 2017 of targeting organizations in the Middle East and other parts of the world with malicious malware. Previously, American and European officials had warned about cyberattacks originating from Iran. In this context, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) recently stated that new sanctions imposed on Iran increase the likelihood of Iranian cyber threats. An American research company also announced two weeks ago that hackers based in Iran had attacked major parties and the Australian Parliament. Charles Yu, head of the cybersecurity company 'Riskurity,' told the Wall Street Journal that the recent cyberattack on the Australian Parliament aligns with the actions of the 'Mabna Institute' in Iran, which reportedly has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Mabna Institute, apparently established in 2013, has been subject to US Treasury sanctions since April of this year. According to the FBI, the Mabna Institute had previously orchestrated cyberattacks against at least 144 universities in the US and 76 universities in 21 other countries, including Israel, Canada, China, Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, Norway, Turkey, the UK, and South Korea. In addition to the legal entity of the Mabna Institute, the US Treasury sanctioned eight members of this institute, including Gholamreza Rafatnejad, Ehsan Mohammadi, Seyed Ali Mirkarimi, Mostafa Sadeghi, Sajjad Tahmasbi, Abdollah Karima, Abuzar Goharimoghadam, Roozbeh Sabahi, and Mohammadreza Sabahi, as well as another Iranian citizen named Behzad Masri.