The Iranian hackers have taken an curiosity in dark-web boards, the place scammers leak data on their victims akin to stolen emails and community configurations, in accordance with the November 8 advisory. The FBI is anxious that the Iranian hacking group may use that data to plot methods into US company networks sooner or later.
The FBI warning underscores how varied laptop operatives — some motivated by espionage or different authorities necessities, others by revenue — can exploit the cybercriminal underworld for their very own functions. Whereas the Biden administration wages a crackdown in opposition to ransomware, some legal teams proceed to publish knowledge about their victims to strain them into paying cash to unlock their computer systems.
“In case your group’s data was beforehand compromised, the FBI recommends contemplating how any knowledge exfiltrated might be leveraged to conduct additional malicious exercise in opposition to your community.” says the FBI bulletin, which advises firms on the right way to put together for follow-on hacks.
CNN has requested remark from the FBI on the advisory. The bureau recurrently sends non-public alerts to US organizations about ongoing hacking threats.
It’s unclear which Iranian hacking group is behind the exercise. The FBI didn’t determine the hackers by title or say if they’re linked to the Iranian authorities.
Adam Meyers, senior vice chairman of intelligence at safety agency CrowdStrike, mentioned that Iranian government-linked hackers have more and more dabbled in cybercriminal exercise, akin to ransomware, as a way of blurring the strains between state and non-state cyber operations.
“It’s effectively inside (Iranian teams’) modus operandi to buy entry to networks held by a legal group if it serves their pursuits,” Meyers informed CNN.
Whereas analysts typically checklist Iran after Russia and China when it comes to cyber capabilities, Tehran nonetheless has an array of hacking groups it may draw on to attempt to infiltrate US company and authorities networks.
US intelligence officers blamed Iranian hackers for posing because the Proud Boys, a far-right US group, and sending threatening emails to American voters forward of the 2020 election.
