The Iranian government has been accused of using malware that collects sensitive information from opponents, activists, and journalists on messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. British, American, and Dutch officials published a joint report detailing these cyber activities, which demonstrate Iran's efforts to suppress its critics through digital surveillance.
Use of Chosen Brick malware
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) announced that cyber actors have used malware known as Chosen Brick to steal emails, messages, and other sensitive information through targeted phishing campaigns. Paul Chichester, NCSC's Operations Director, stated: "The details of this cyber campaign show that Iran ruthlessly uses digital surveillance to suppress its critics. The country systematically steals emails and messages and gains access to various devices."
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Diverse attack methods
This report warns that the malware can collect information from contact lists, emails, and social media accounts, record screen content, and access microphones. Some personal details of victims later appeared on Iranian-backed information disclosure websites. Attackers often posed as trusted contacts in messaging apps and tailored their methods specifically for each target. The level of precision was such that fake documents and fabricated MRI results were used to convince victims to download the malware.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, along with the FBI and the Dutch intelligence service AIVD, stated that Iran is almost certainly using cyber operations to help suppress individuals deemed a threat. Last year, the UK, the US, and France were among over a dozen countries that condemned what they considered an increase in assassination, kidnapping, and intimidation programs by Iranian intelligence services against individuals in Europe and North America.
These countries emphasized in a joint statement: "We are clearly united in opposing Iranian intelligence efforts to kill, kidnap, and intimidate individuals in Europe and North America in violation of our sovereignty." The UK government previously stated that since 2022, it has disrupted over 20 Iranian-related plots to kidnap or kill individuals in the country, including British citizens and others whom Tehran considers a threat.
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