LONDON
\nUK cyber-security chiefs on Thursday warned that Russia and Iran were increasingly targeting government officials, journalists and NGOs with so-called \u201cspear-fishing\u201d attacks in order to \u201ccompromise sensitive systems.\u201d
\nThe National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) urged those in such roles to familiarise themselves with material on its website explaining the techniques and tactics used by the attackers as well as mitigation advice.
\nSpear-phishing involves an attacker sending malicious links to specific targets \u201cin order to try to induce them to share sensitive information.\u201d The cyber-attacker often undertakes \u201creconnaissance activity around their target\u201d in order tailor their attacks more effectively, said the NCSC.
\nThey often approach targets via email, social media and professional networking platforms, \u201cwith attackers impersonating real-world contacts of their targets, sending false invitations to conferences and events, and sharing malicious links disguised as Zoom meeting URLs.\u201d
\nThe NCSC said that Russia-based group SEABORGIUM and Iran-based group TA453 had targeted a range of organizations and individuals in the UK and abroad throughout 2022.
\n\u201cThe attacks are not aimed at the general public but targets in specified sectors, including academia, defense, government organizations, NGOs, think-tanks, as well as politicians, journalists and activists,\u201d it added.
\nPaul Chichester, NCSC Director of Operations, said that actors based in Russia and Iran \u201ccontinue to ruthlessly pursue their targets in an attempt to steal online credentials and compromise potentially sensitive systems.
\n\u201cWe strongly encourage organizations and individuals to remain vigilant to potential approaches,\u201d he added.
\nPotential targets are urged to use \u201cstrong and separate passwords\u201d for online accounts, to keep networks and devices up to date, to enable their email providers\u2019 automated email scanning features and to disable mail-forwarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON UK cyber-security chiefs on Thursday warned that Russia and Iran were increasingly targeting government officials, journalists and NGOs with so-called \u201cspear-fishing\u201d attacks in order to \u201ccompromise sensitive systems.\u201d The National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) urged those in such roles to familiarise themselves with material on its website explaining the techniques and tactics used by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n