State-sponsored Iranian hackers pose grave security threat: Cylance report

Iranian hackers have managed to penetrate and steal information from governments and companies around the world since 2012, posing a grave security threat, researchers say in a new report,

The report by the security firm Cylance released on Tuesday said the hackers had "extracted highly sensitive materials" from government agencies and major critical infrastructure companies in China, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, India, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Cylance researchers called the effort "Operation Cleaver" and said it has "conducted a significant global surveillance and infiltration campaign".

The group was believed to work from Tehran, with help from others located in the Netherlands, Canada and Britain, the report said.

Targets included government networks as well as companies involved in military, oil and gas, energy and utilities, transportation, airlines, airports, hospitals, telecommunications, technology, education and aerospace.

"During intense intelligence gathering over the last 24 months, we observed the technical capabilities of the Operation Cleaver team rapidly evolve faster than any previously observed Iranian effort," the report said.