Iran blamed for major cyberattack on UK institutions

Iran carried out a series of major cyber attacks against UK organizations at the end of December, British media reported.

The targets included the Post Office and local government networks along with private sector companies, including banks, Sky News reported.

US cyber security experts said a group connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for the attacks and the high-profile attack on Britain’s parliamentary network in 2017, the report said.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre told Arab News it was “aware of a cyber incident affecting some UK organisations in late 2018.”

During the attacks on Dec. 23 personal details belonging to thousands of employees were stolen, the Sky report said. This included the email address and mobile phone number of the Post Office chief executive.

Iran has increasingly been linked to cyberattacks against countries in the West and the Middle East.

Last week, Microsoft said it seized 99 websites used by Iranian hackers to steal sensitive information and launch other cyberattacks, AP reported.

In January, cyber-security firm FireEye said it had identified attacks on dozens of internet sites belonging to entities across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and North America, that have “a nexus to Iran.”