Cold War tactics and social engineering

Iran-linked cyber operations are drawing renewed attention for relying less on advanced code and more on human manipulation to gain access to sensitive systems.

At the centre of this activity is Charming Kitten, a group associated with Iran’s security apparatus which has spent years targeting officials, researchers, and corporate employees.

Instead of exploiting technical vulnerabilities, operatives frequently impersonate trusted contacts, using carefully crafted messages to trick victims into revealing credentials or installing malicious software.

Article continues below

These tactics echo intelligence strategies more commonly associated with Cold ...