“Israel”: Iranian Hackers Broke into Email Accounts of Senior Figures

By Staff, Agencies 

The “Israeli” cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies announced on Tuesday that Iranian hackers have taken control of the email accounts of senior Zionist figures and impersonated them.

This “spear-fishing” – an individualized email spoofing attack designed to steal sensitive private information and credentials, or to steal money from them – has been going on since at least December 2021, though most probably for longer. The hacked figures include former “Israeli” foreign minister Tzipi Livni, as well as a former major general who served in a highly sensitive position in the “Israeli” military, a senior executive in the military industry, and the chairman of one of “Israel's” leading security think tanks.

Check Point claimed that a group of Iranian hackers known as the Phosphorus APT group, which is also known by a number of other aliases, including ATP35, Charming Kitten and the Ajax Security Team are behind the attack.

The hackers broke into the email accounts of the targets, sent messages from them to other senior officials asking them to click on links in the message in order to hack into more accounts, said Check Point. One of the messages was sent to Livni from the account of a general in the reserves, who she had corresponded with in the past.