The HHS Office of Information Security issued a brief Nov. 3 warning the U.S. healthcare sector about the possible threat Iranian hackers may pose to the healthcare industry.
Five things to know about Iranian hacker groups:
- Iranian threat groups such as Pioneer Kitten, UNC3890 and Magic Kitten are known to target the healthcare sector.
- In June, Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, revealed that Iranian government-backed hackers attempted to execute a cyberattack against Boston Children's Hospital.
- Iranian hackers have been known to engage in website defacement, malware, theft of personally identifiable information, spear phishing and distributed denial-of-service attacks against their victims.
- These groups are also known for wiper malware as well as retaliatory attack strategies.
- HHS recommends that organizations implement user training, especially in regard to phishing and other types of social engineering in order to mitigate any attacks from Iranian-backed hackers.