Iranian Hackers Hit Hundreds of Companies
07 March 2019 - 8:57PM
Dow Jones News
By WSJ City
Cyberattacks linked to Iranian hackers have targeted thousands
of people at more than 200 companies over the past two years,
Microsoft said, part of a wave of computer intrusions from the
country that researchers say has hit businesses and government
entities around the globe.
KEY FACTS
Microsoft said:
--- The campaign, the scope of which hadn't previously been
reported, stole corporate secrets and wiped data.
--- It caused damages estimated at hundreds of millions of
dollars in lost productivity.
--- It affected oil-and-gas companies, heavy-machinery
manufacturers and international conglomerates.
--- Countries hit included Saudi Arabia, Germany, the UK, India
and the US.
--- Microsoft deployed incident-response teams to some of the
affected companies.
Iranian Denial
Iran "denies any involvement in cyber crimes against any
nation," said a spokesman for Iran's mission to the United Nations
in an email. He called the cybersecurity research by Microsoft and
other companies "essentially ads, not independent or academic
studies," that should not be taken at face value.
Why This Matters
While American and European companies have been hit, security
researchers say the attacks from Iran have focused heavily on the
Middle East.But they say Iran's growing cyber strength poses a
potential threat to the US at a time of intensified tension between
the two countries.
A fuller story is available on WSJ.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 07, 2019 04:42 ET (09:42 GMT)
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