Iranian Government Cyber Actors Using Microsoft To Target US Critical Infrastructure - FBI

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2021) Iranian cyber actors are exploiting vulnerabilities in microsoft and Fortinet services to target a broad range of victims across multiple US critical infrastructure sectors, a joint cybersecurity advisory shared by the FBI in a tweet said.

"The (FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Australian Cyber Security Centre and UK National Cyber Security Center) warn of Iranian government-sponsored advanced persistent threat (APT) actors using #Microsoft and #Fortinet vulnerabilities to target US critical infrastructure, including hospitals," the tweet linking to the joint advisory said on Wednesday.

The Iranian government-sponsored APT actors are actively targeting critical infrastructure sectors, including transportation and healthcare, the joint advisory said.

Since at least March 2021, the Iranian APT actors have been observed leveraging the Microsoft Exchange and Fortinet vulnerabilities to target the victims in furtherance of malicious activities, it added.

The joint advisory urged network defenders to apply several mitigations to reduce the risk of compromise by the threat, including system updates and patches, secure remote access, strong passwords and antivirus programs.