Cairo: An unidentified group of hackers, based in Iran, have been found to target the Gulf and the Middle East with cyber-attacks, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas reported on Sunday, amid tensions between Tehran and several countries in the region.
“The Iranian group adopts different tools to hack several governmental systems with the aim of installing spying points at data centres there,” an unnamed source at an information security company in Kuwait told the paper.
The source, termed as well-informed, added that the hackers have systematically attempted to steal “sensitive and crucial data” since last year. “They rely on taking advantage on loopholes in the online governmental systems.”
The group, according to the source, has a list of potential 809 targets in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Jordan. There was no official comment in Kuwait.
In recent years, ties have deteriorated between Iran and several Arab countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, over Tehran’s interference in their affairs. A Saudi-led Arab coalition, fighting Iran-allied militants in Yemen, accuses Tehran of smuggling weapons to its Al Houthi proxies, who staged a coup in 2014 against the internationally recognised government there.
