Security News > 2021 > February > Over 1,200 Iranians Targeted in Domestic Surveillance Campaign
More than 1,200 Iranian citizens have been targeted in extensive cyber-surveillance operations backed by the Iranian government, researchers with cybersecurity firm Check Point report.
The attacks, which Check Point refers to collectively as Domestic Kitten, have been ongoing for roughly four years, orchestrated by a threat actor tracked as APT-C-50, which executes the campaigns on behalf of the Iranian government.
The attacks employed a broad range of vectors to trick victims into installing a malicious Android application: Telegram channels, text messages containing a link to the software, and an Iranian blog.
More than 600 of the targeted individuals had their devices infected.
Once on the victim's device, the malware masquerades itself as a fake mobile security application, a news app, a repackaged version of a game, an Android application store, a wallpaper application, or an application for a restaurant in Tehran.
In addition to victims in Iran, the operations targeted individuals worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and more.