News has surfaced that the man behind the HBO hack earlier this year has been identified as being Behzad Mesri, an Iranian national, who is linked to the elite Iranian cyber criminal group Charming Kitten. Chris Doman, Security Researcher at AlienVault commented below.
Chris Doman, Security Researcher at AlienVault:
“The new report by Clearsky indicates just how interlinked hacking operations originating in Iran are.
They found links between Behzad Mesri, accused of hacking HBO and threatening to leak Game of Thrones episode unless a ransom is paid, and the group of hackers known as ‘Charming Kitten’. They are known for being prolific in the use of social engineering techniques, and have successfully compromised a number of notable targets. They in turn have some links to another set of more capable Iranian attackers known as Rocket Kitten.
The prime targets in todays reports seem to be Iranian dissidents and the state of Israel.”
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