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Reuters: "Iranian hackers have
compromised more than a dozen accounts on the Telegram instant messaging
service and identified the phone numbers of 15 million Iranian users, the
largest known breach of the encrypted communications system, cyber
researchers told Reuters. The attacks, which took place this year
and have not been previously reported, jeopardized the communications of
activists, journalists and other people in sensitive positions in Iran,
where Telegram is used by some 20 million people... Telegram
promotes itself as an ultra secure instant messaging system because all
data is encrypted from start to finish, known in the industry as
end-to-end encryption. A number of other messaging services, including
Facebook Inc's (FB.O) WhatsApp, say they have similar
capabilities... The researchers said the Telegram victims included
political activists involved in reformist movements and opposition
organizations... Cyber experts say Iranian hackers have become
increasingly sophisticated, able to adapt to evolving social media
habits... targets included members of the Saudi royal family, Israeli
nuclear scientists, NATO officials and Iranian dissidents."
Reuters: "Italian oil refiner Saras
has paid back 100 million euros ($112 million) of the debt it owes Iran
for cargoes of crude oil taken before sanctions were imposed on the
country in 2012, the company's managing director said... Saras,
which is partly owned by Russian oil giant Rosneft, used to take a
significant part of its crude feedstock from Iran before the embargo
on the country. Earlier this year [managing director Dario]
Scaffardi said the company had renewed its crude oil supply contract with
the National Iranian Oil Company but added there were still some hurdles
to overcome on the banking payment front." http://t.uani.com/2arV1l5
AP: "Syrian opposition activist Noura Al-Ameer was combing
through her emails late one night when a message caught her eye. The
sender was 'Assadcrimes' and he promised information about Iranian
meddling in the Middle East. But the email seemed odd. Al-Ameer turned to
her husband, cybersecurity trainer Bahr Abdul Razzak... The email, sent
on Oct. 3 last year, was an electronic trap - one of hundreds of malicious
messages that have flown back and forth as rebels grapple with the
government of Bashar Assad in Syria. This one had been aimed at snaring
Al-Ameer in particular; the website registered by the hacker was in her
name, suggesting an attempt to steal her identity. Al-Ameer is a
well-known opposition figure, and stealing her data or her identity could
have been the jumping off point to attack other Syrians in and out of the
country. As Abdul Razzak and his colleagues tried to trace the hackers,
they found a trail of digital clues leading to Iran. Their story...
raise[s] the possibility that Iran has gone beyond sending men and
materiel to tip the scale in Assad's favor. The country's hackers may
have joined the fray as well."
Sanctions Relief
UPI: "A middle man may be necessary
to facilitate crude oil deliveries from Iran to the international market,
a national petroleum official said from
Tehran. Mohsen Qamsari, the director of international affairs at the
National Iranian Oil Company, said independent Chinese refiners made
purchase orders for around 2 million barrels of crude oil. They have the
permits, he said, but 'lack enough logistics and financial resources' to
make further progress with Iranian transactions. 'We are now seeking a
go-between for dealing with these refiners,' he said. Qamsari said
that, so far, Dutch trader Trafigura was moving Iranian crude oil to the
Chinese market. The director said talks are underway with the trader to
move deeper into the Chinese market." http://t.uani.com/2arVXpe
Terrorism
NYT: "Relatives of victims of the 1994
attack of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires sought Monday to reopen a
criminal complaint against former President Cristina Fernández de
Kirchner accusing her of trying to derail an investigation into the
bombing, which killed 85 people. Lawyers for... the fathers of two
women who were killed in the bombing 22 years ago... filed a request with
a judge overseeing a related investigation against one of Mrs. Kirchner's
political allies to include a criminal complaint against Mrs. Kirchner
first brought by Alberto Nisman, a federal prosecutor who died in
mysterious circumstances last year. In a complaint drafted before he
was found dead in his Buenos Aires apartment, Mr. Nisman had accused Mrs.
Kirchner and her former foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, of ordering
secret negotiations with Iran to shield former Iranian officials thought
to be behind the attack in exchange for favorable trade
agreements."
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