Iranian hackers launch ‘SpearSpecter’ spy operation on defense and government targets

The Iranian state-sponsored threat actor known as APT42 has been observed targeting individuals and organizations that are of interest to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as part of a new espionage-focused campaign.

The activity, detected in early September 2025 and assessed to be ongoing, has been codenamed SpearSpecter by the Israel National Digital Agency (INDA).

“The campaign has systematically targeted high-value senior defense and government officials using personalized social engineering tactics,” INDA researchers Shimi Cohen, Adi Pick, Idan Beit-Yosef, Hila David, and Yaniv Goldman said. “These include inviting targets to prestigious conferences or arranging significant meetings.”

Read more at The Hacker News