Neowin News Feed for: Iran

Microsoft: State actors from Russia, Iran, and China continue to spread US election hoaxes

John Callaham — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 18:12:01 +0000

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center says state actors based in Russia, Iran, and China are continuing to spread misinformation online about the upcoming US presidential election. Read more...

Meta says it blocked some WhatsApp accounts that were being used by Iran-based actors

John Callaham — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 03:06:01 +0000

Meta announced late on Friday that it had blocked some WhatsApp accounts that it says were being used by Iran-based malicious state actors Read more...

The Trump campaign says it was hacked and referenced Microsoft's recent security report

John Callaham — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 05:48:02 +0000

A spokesperson for the campaign to elect Donald Trump as the president of the US says it was hacked, referencing a Microsoft report about Iranian-based state actors targeting the election. Read more...

TWIRL 77: Roscosmos will launch Iran's Khayyam remote sensing satellite this week

Paul Hill — Sun, 07 Aug 2022 16:36:01 +0000

We have a quiet week coming up. SpaceX will launch more Starlink satellites, and Russia is planning to launch a remote sensing satellite called Khayyam for the Iranian military from Baikonur. Read more...

Cryptocurrency miners in deep waters with Iran's new policy

Anushe Fawaz — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 11:40:01 +0000

Crypto miners will observe power supply cuts to avoid a possible rise in the country's electricity consumption. Iran noticed record-high demand last year. This year, it aims to act promptly. Read more...

Microsoft: U.S. defense sector is being targeted by Iran

Usama Jawad — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 06:54:01 +0000

Microsoft has issued an advisory highlighting that multiple U.S. and Israeli defense companies and global maritime transportation firms are under attack from a threat actor, likely from Iran. Read more...

TWIRL 2: SpaceX's Starship SN10 could take flight

Paul Hill — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 20:12:01 +0000

There are three rocket launches expected this week. Rocket Lab is launching several satellites, Iran is re-attempting to launch its Pars 1 satellite, and SpaceX will try to land Starship SN10. Read more...

Twitter bans hundreds of state-affiliated propaganda accounts from Russia and Iran

Usama Jawad — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 06:12:01 +0000

Twitter has announced that it has banned hundreds of state-affiliated propaganda accounts from Russia, Iran, and Armenia. The problematic accounts were engaged in platform manipulation. Read more...

TWIRL 1: SpaceX set to launch 60 Starlink satellites this week

Paul Hill — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 05:10:01 +0000

This week, India, SpaceX, Russia, China and Iran are all planning space launches. All of the launches are carrying satellites but for very different purposes from internet delivery to monitoring. Read more...

Twitter says state-actors may have gained access to people's phone numbers

Paul Hill — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 08:08:01 +0000

Twitter has revealed that hackers attempted to match phone numbers to Twitter usernames. It said the hack may have been state-backed, possibly being linked to Iran, Israel, or Malaysia. Read more...

GitHub confirms heavy restrictions in U.S.-sanctioned regions like Iran and Syria

Hamza Jawad — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 13:46:01 +0000

GitHub has verified that its services will be largely limited for developers in U.S.-sanctioned regions like Iran and Syria. These users will only be able to use them for non-commercial purposes. Read more...

Slack bans multiple users with links to Iran despite living abroad already

Jay Bonggolto — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:48:02 +0000

Multiple Slack users have reported that their accounts were deactivated due to their ties to Iran. The company claims the action it has taken is in compliance with U.S. sanctions on that country. Read more...

Huawei CFO arrested, faces extradition for suspected sanctions violations

Paul Hill — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 01:54:01 +0000

Huawei's CFO Meng Wanzhou has been arrested in Canada at the behest of U.S. law enforcement for allegedly violating sanctions against Iran. Huawei claims that it is not aware of any wrongdoing. Read more...

Study reveals Iran tried to sway public opinion in its favor via social media

Sharath Ravishankar — Wed, 17 Oct 2018 19:58:02 +0000

Analysis of Twitter data has revealed that Iran - much like Russia has in recent times - tried to pull a fast one: the country made use of troll farms in order to sway public opinion in its favor. Read more...

U.S. lawmakers hit out at Google over ties to Huawei

Paul Hill — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:48:01 +0000

U.S. lawmakers have written to the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai. They expressed their concerns over the Google-Huawei partnership because of links they said Huawei has to the Chinese Communist Party. Read more...

ZTE agrees to pay $1 billion to continue operating in the U.S.

Paul Hill — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 15:00:01 +0000

ZTE has agreed to pay $1 billion and make personnel changes to continue operating in the U.S. The deal will also see a U.S. monitoring team join the company to ensure compliance with U.S. law. Read more...

Iran's judiciary bans Telegram because of security, cultural and economic concerns

Paul Hill — Tue, 01 May 2018 06:20:01 +0000

Telegram has been banned in Iran after the country's judiciary said that the app was causing unrest in the country and breaking banking regulations by pursuing its own cryptocurrency. Read more...

Huawei allegedly violated Iran sanctions and could face criminal penalties

Timi Cantisano — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 01:22:01 +0000

As if things weren't bad enough for Huawei, the firm is now being investigated by the Justice Department. The firm may have violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and could face severe penalties. Read more...

Iranian banks banned from trading cryptocurrencies

Paul Hill — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 16:30:01 +0000

The Central Bank of Iran has announced that other banks in the country are banned from buying and selling bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The bank is trying to clamp down on illegal transactions. Read more...

Iran is setting the stage for a new cryptocurrency

Paul Hill — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 19:04:01 +0000

The Iranian government could roll out its own cryptocurrency in the future, after recent statements were issued by the country's ICT minister. Iran looks to be following in the steps of Venezuela. Read more...

FBI charges hacker who ransomed HBO and leaked GoT episodes

Richard Tyr Blewitt — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:10:01 +0000

The alleged hacker is an Iranian called Behmad Mezri who the FBI claim hacked into HBO and stole proprietary data from, such as unaired GoT episodes, which he then held for ransom and later leaked. Read more...

Telegram CEO effectively banned from going to Iran

Paul Hill — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 13:16:01 +0000

Iran has filed criminal charges against the CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov. This effectively bans him from going to the country any time soon. Durov says Russia is considering similar laws. Read more...

ZTE admits wrongdoing, agrees to pay $1.19 billion fine for exports to Iran, North Korea

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 09:18:01 +0000

ZTE has come to an understanding with the US Department of Commerce. The Chinese company will pay a total record-setting amount in fines as it exported electronics and IT equipment to Iran and DPRK. Read more...

Iranian Rocket Kitten hacking group breach Telegram; get 15 million local phone numbers, IDs

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 10:20:01 +0000

Government-linked hackers have targeted Iranian journalists, activists and other people, breaching Telegram accounts and absconding with 15 million phone numbers and IDs belonging to Iranian citizens. Read more...

NSA director attended clandestine meeting in Israel to talk cyber security

Paul Hill — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 07:34:01 +0000

NSA chief Admiral Mike Rogers was in Israel last week to discuss closer ties between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart, Unit 8200. The meeting came after the US DoJ charged seven Iranian hackers. Read more...

Iranian citizens want access to the Windows Store but there is one little problem

Brad Sams — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 15:30:01 +0000

Thanks to Microsoft's feedback sites, we can get a small glimpse into the world of politics as citizens in Iran are asking Microsoft to make its products available in that country. Read more...

Iranian cleric issues fatwa against 3G and high-speed Internet

Andy Weir — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:14:19 +0000

A leading cleric has issued a fatwa against high-speed internet, calling it "against Sharia and moral standards", but Iran's President Rouhani says that web access is vital for the younger generation. Read more...

Judge in Iran summons 'Zionist' Mark Zuckerberg to appear in court [Update]

Andy Weir — Wed, 28 May 2014 21:08:48 +0000

An Iranian judge has ordered Mark Zuckerberg to appear in court to defend against alleged privacy violations related to WhatsApp and Instagram, referring to him as "the Zionist director of Facebook". Read more...

Iran bans Instagram over ‘privacy concerns'

Andy Weir — Sun, 25 May 2014 17:02:54 +0000

Just a few weeks after Iran banned WhatsApp, calling Mark Zuckerberg - CEO of Facebook, which is acquiring the company - an "American Zionist", an Iranian court has now ordered a ban on Instagram. Read more...

Iran banning use of Whatsapp, blames 'Zionist' Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

John Callaham — Mon, 05 May 2014 13:52:37 +0000

A new report claims Iran plans to ban the use of Whatsapp due to the fact that it was acquired by Facebook, which is owned by what the country claims is a "zionist" in Mark Zuckerberg. Read more...

NeoBytes :) Iranian claims he's made a machine that can see into the future

John Callaham — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:34:04 +0000

An Iranian scientist claims to have invented a machine that can predict what will happen to any person five to eight years in the future with "98 percent accuracy". Only in Rus... wait, Iran?! Read more...

Iran blocks VPNs, and more with latest firewall updates

Brody McKee — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:10:05 +0000

In the lead-up to June's elections, Iran has 'upgraded' its firewall, which now blocks VPNs. Until now, VPNs were the primary way that Iranians circumvented the firewall to access sites like Facebook. Read more...

ZTE caught selling equipment to Iran, Congress wants sales ban

Brad Sams — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:27:26 +0000

ZTE, a Chinese phone vendor, has been caught selling CISCO gear to Iran which goes against sanctions placed upon Iran and was planning to cover up the operation. Congress now wants to ban ZTE products Read more...

Iran removes block on Gmail again after a week

Paul Ferson — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:04:05 +0000

The Iranian government has removed the block on Gmail again after only a week, with ministers in parliament showing their dissent against the sudden loss of one of the most popular email services. Read more...

Iranian Parliament up in arms over Gmail ban

Tyler Holman — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 01:45:03 +0000

Iran may have just gone too far in its attempt to control the internet by blocking Gmail. People are turning to proxies, and even the Parliament is up in arms, as Iran promises an official replacement Read more...

Is Iran finally about to block outside Internet access?

John Callaham — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 21:34:34 +0000

A new report claims that Iran is getting ready to finally launch their rumored national Internet and block off official access to outside sites. Google and Gmail services are already being "filtered." Read more...

World of Warcraft banned in Iran due to US sanctions

John Callaham — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:28:36 +0000

Blizzard has now admitted that its games, including its hit MMO World of Warcraft, are banned from being accessed by residents of Iran due to the sanctions against that country by the US government. Read more...

Kaspersky discovers new 'Gauss' virus, similar to Flame

Paul Ferson — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 16:36:05 +0000

Kaspersky has identified a virus they identify as 'Gauss', which has been found to be focused on disrupting Middle Eastern computer systems and banking. The virus' sinister origins are questioned. Read more...

Iranian nuclear program hit by virus, plays AC/DC

Paul Ferson — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:27:02 +0000

Iran's nuclear program has been infected with a new virus which seems to play excellent music at inopportune times, and has spread across two different Iranian facilities already. Read more...

Iran's TV network claims the BBC hacked their website

John Callaham — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:41:04 +0000

The state-run television network of Iran has accused the UK-based British Broadcasting Corporation of hacking their website to alter a poll about Iran's nuclear program. The BBC denies the accusation. Read more...