In unprecedented attack, US and UK say cyber pirates believed to have ties to Kremlin hijacked tools of organizations in Islamic Republic to hide their true identities
The United States and the UK said Monday they had exposed how a group of Russian hackers hijacked the tools of their Iranian counterparts to attack dozens of countries around the world.
The so-called Turla group, also known as Waterbug or Venomous Bear, is widely reported to be associated with Russian state actors. The US National Security Agency and Britainâs National Cyber Security Center said Monday that Turla acquired control of the tools and infrastructure of Iranian hacking groups for their attacks in an attempt to mask their identity.
The attacks extracted documents from multiple sectors, including governments, and were mostly carried out in the Middle East. The UK NCSC advisory report on the attacks did not specify whether Israel was targeted.
Paul Chichester, the NCSCâs director of operations, said Monday: âTurla acquired access to Iranian tools and the ability to identify and exploit them to further their own aims.â