The US government is charging a former US Air Force counterintelligence agent for conspiring with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to the official indictment, Monica Elfriede Witt helped four Iranian hackers with the IRGC carry out social engineering attacks that targeted the suspect’s former colleagues in US intelligence. The aim of the attacks, which included spear-phishing, was allegedly to install malicious software on the victims’ systems that would create a backdoor through which the hackers could get access.
The four Iranian nationals were also charged with conspiracy and various cyber crimes, while two Iranian organizations were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department over their alleged involvement in the campaigns that took place between 2014 and 2015. Witt is believed to have defected to Iran in 2013. She and the four Iranian suspects all remain at large.
Read more: Ex-US Intel Officer Charged with Helping Iran Target Her Former Colleagues
