Middle East > Iran > Iranian hackers attack critical infrastructure in Turkey

Iran: Iranian hackers attack critical infrastructure in Turkey

2014/12/17

Iranian hackers have launched several cyber attacks against the infrastructure of government and corporate institutions in 16 nations, inclunding Turkey, since 2012, a recent statement from the US-based cyber security firm Cylance Inc. has shown.

According to the statement, a team of Iranian hackers located around the world has stolen confidential data from the computer networks of these institutions using existing hacking tools together with new methods of their own which were invented specifically for each target's system. Companies in the energy, military, transportation, aerospace, communications and chemicals sectors were targeted.

Calling the statement “Operation Cleaver,” since the word “cleaver” was largely referred to in the hackers' malware codes, Cylance states that the cyber attacks focused mostly on the remote control of data that they allegedly reached rather than espionage.

Cylance's statement contains data that the team of hackers, disguised as a construction engineering company located in Tehran, targeted the petroleum and natural gas facilities of certain companies in Antalya in Turkey.

Mentioning that Cylance has been tracking the attacks of the team in the last 24 months, the statement as well said the majority strategic attacks were observed in South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where the hackers reportedly obtained remote control of the transportation system and security systems and gates at airports.

Part the nations impacted by the hacker team's attacks are Canada, China, England, France, Germany, India, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, the US and Turkey.

The statement comes on the heels of reports which had long featured in the Turkish media about the increasing presence of Iranian firms and activities in the Turkish market.

The rapid increase of Iranian-funded foreign companies in Turkey at an unprecedented rate in recent times has raised concerns, as these firms are suspected to be "front" companies set up to circumvent UN-sponsored sanctions.

The authorities have warned that Iranians use Turkish partners at the same time as setting up front companies to further complicate matters if the issue is investigated.

In September, US Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen just a day before Erdoğan went to Tehran urged Turkey to be cautious, saying there are still significant sanctions in place against Iran and that business deals with Iran should be postponed. “Iran is not open for business. Sanctions [on Iran] remain in place and are still completely significant, and businesses that are interested in engaging with Iran really should hold off,” he said publicly in Ankara.

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