Cybersecurity
Hackers Pose as Flirty Aerobics Instructor to Target Employees
- Iranian group said to be behind attacks on defense companies
- ‘Marcella Flores’ sent messages, photos to try to dupe worker
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A hacking group aligned with Iran’s government has waged a years-long campaign to steal data from American defense contractors, even posting as a flirtatious aerobics instructor from the U.K. in an attempt to dupe an employee, according to cybersecurity researchers.
The group, known as TA456 or Tortoiseshell, has sought out smaller subsidiaries and contractors in an effort to use them as a launching pad to compromise larger defense companies through the supply chain, according to a report published Wednesday by the Sunnyvale, California-based cybersecurity firm Proofpoint Inc.