LONDON (Reuters) - Russian state-backed pirates have tried to disguise their cyber attacks on government and industry organizations in dozens of countries so they are thought to be Iranian hackers, British and US officials said on Monday.
According to British security officials, the Russian group - known as Turla, previously accused by Estonian and Czech authorities of acting on behalf of the Russian security service FSB - used the tools and infrastructure of Iranian network computers to implement Successful breakthroughs for organizations in 20 different countries over the past 18 months.
They said the hacking campaign, which has not been disclosed before, was more active in the Middle East, but also targeted organizations in Britain.
Paul Chichester, a senior intelligence official at the British intelligence agency GCHQ, said the operation showed that state-backed hackers were operating in a "very crowded area" and were developing attacks and new ways to improve their routes.
In a joint statement with the US National Security Agency (NSA), the National Cybersecurity Center of GHQ said it wanted to increase security sector awareness of the suspicious activity of groups and make attacks more difficult for its opponents.
"We want to send a clear message that even when the cybercriminals seek to conceal their identity, we have the ability to identify them in the end," said Chichester, who is the director of operations.
Russian and Iranian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent on Sunday. Both Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly denied Western allegations of piracy.