Networks in China and Iran also used AI models to create and post disinformation but campaigns did not reach large audiences
OpenAI on Thursday released its first ever report on how its artificial intelligence tools are being used for covert influence operations, revealing that the company had disrupted disinformation campaigns originating from Russia, China, Israel and Iran.
Malicious actors used the company’s generative AI models to create and post propaganda content across social media platforms, and to translate their content into different languages. None of the campaigns gained traction or reached large audiences, according to the report.
Confronting Another Axis? History, Humility, and Wishful Thinking . A long historical essay by Philip Zelikow, describing the perspectives of past and present US adversaries. "Zelikow warns that the United States faces an exceptionally volatile time in global politics and that the period of maximum danger might be in the next one to three years. Adversaries can miscalculate and recalculate, and it can be difficult to fully understand internal divisions within an adversary's government, how rival states draw their own lessons from different interpretations of history, and how they might quickly react to a new event that appears to shift power dynamics." Via Noah Smith.
As official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi ends, here are some of the names of his potential successors
The end of official mourning for Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has unleashed a battle for succession in which as many as 20 credible names have been proposed.
All candidates have to be cleared by the 12-strong elite body known as the Guardian Council, and the regime is torn between ensuring continuity on the one hand and on the other, allowing an open competition that stimulates turnout and gives the victor legitimacy.
Mashallah Karami sentenced to six years after pleading for his son’s life to be spared
Iranian authorities have jailed a father who campaigned unsuccessfully for clemency for his 22-year-old son after he was sentenced to death in connection with 2022 protests, his lawyer said Saturday.
Mashallah Karami was sentenced to six years in prison by a Revolutionary court in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj on charges of illegally organising gatherings and collecting donations, his lawyer, Ali Sharifzadeh Ardakani, said on X, adding that the verdict had “flaws” and would be appealed.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, the film for which Rasoulof was given an eight-year prison sentence by the Iranian regime, receives standing ovation on the Côte d’Azur
The newly exiled Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who fled his home country last month ahead of taking his new film to the Cannes festival, has spoken of drawing from his real life encounters with the repressive justice system in the Islamic Republic.
Rasoulof, who fled Iran after receiving an eight-year prison sentence for making the film The Seed of the Sacred Fig, also made an impassioned call for resistance directed at the film-makers and artists he left behind.
The exiled director’s story of officialdom’s misogyny and theocracy in his home country may be flawed, but its importance is beyond doubt
Mohammad Rasoulof is a fugitive Iranian director and dissident wanted by the police in his own country, where he has received a long prison sentence and flogging. Now he has come to Cannes with a brazen and startling picture which, though flawed, does justice to the extraordinary and scarcely believable drama of his own situation and the agony of his homeland.
It’s a movie about Iranian officialdom’s misogyny and theocracy, and sets out to intuit and externalise the inner anguish and psychodrama of its dissenting citizens – in a country where women can be judicially bullied and beaten for refusing to wear the hijab.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig begins as a downbeat political and domestic drama in the familiar style of Iranian cinema, and then progressively escalates to something extravagantly crazy and traumatised – like a pueblo shootout by Sergio Leone.
Iman (Missagh Zareh) is an ambitious lawyer who has just been promoted to state investigator – one step short of being a full judge in the revolutionary court. He gets a handsome pay rise and better accommodation for his family: wife (played by actor and anti-hijab protester Soheila Golestani) and two student-age daughters (Setareh Malek and Mahsa Rostami).
But the promotion almost immediately brings disappointment and tension: Iman, a thoughtful and decent man, is stunned to discover that he is expected to rubber-stamp death-penalty judgments without reading the evidence. He is told that he must now be secretive with friends and family who could be threatened and doxed by criminal elements as a way of pressuring him.
Most fatefully of all, he is issued a handgun for his family’s protection, apparently without any training or guidance as to how to use or store it. Naive Iman casually leaves it lying around the house and tucks it in the back of his trousers like a Hollywood gangster. (Are Iranian prosecutors really allowed to be so casual with firearms?)
When the anti-hijab protests explode in Iran, whatever liberal scruples Iman once had are suppressed. He coldly rebukes his daughters over dinner for their rebellious feminist views and accuses them of falling for the propaganda of enemies and foreign elements. “What foreign elements?” his daughters demand – but Iman sullenly refuses to elaborate. (Here is a flaw in the film, surely – in real life, Iman would make some very specific, ugly, paranoid claims.)
When his wife and daughters help a terrified young female anti-hijab protester who has been shot in the face by the police, this too must be concealed from Iman. And then, catastrophe – Iman’s gun goes missing and, with increasing resentment and fury, he suspects one of the women of his family has taken it and is lying to him. His toxic outrage bleeds into the fabric of the film itself.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leads prayers in capital city days after death of Ebrahim Raisi and seven others in helicopter crash
Tens of thousands of Iranians attended the Tehran funeral of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, whose death in a helicopter crash on a fog-shrouded mountain on Sunday has opened up a potentially volatile moment in Iranian politics.
He died with seven others, including the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who was hailed by Hamas on Wednesday as the minister for the resistance.
Bodies of helicopter crash victims taken to capital via Qom, while power struggle is under way before election
The bodies of the Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and the other victims of Sunday’s helicopter crash were taken by plane to the holy city of Qom and then to Tehran before a state ceremony on Wednesday.
Iranian state TV reported on large crowds gathering to pay their respects, while behind the scenes a power struggle was under way as the regime attempts to unify around a single candidate in a snap election provisionally scheduled for 28 June.
Who will be the next supreme leader isn’t clear. But the regime is unlikely to extend its hand to anyone but ultra-loyalists
The death of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash on Sunday night immediately set off speculation about the succession of the next supreme leader. Raisi was widely considered to be a leading candidate to replace Ali Khamenei, who is in his mid-80s and reportedly in poor health. His departure from the pool of possible candidates has raised the question of whether this could be an opportunity for the Iranian regime to widen political participation in the country by reinstating moderates and reformist figures into some state functions.
But this is unlikely. Over the past few years, the inner circle of the regime in Iran has been shrinking and will continue to do so. Raisi’s death pushes Iran even further in this direction.
Lina Khatib is director of the Soas Middle East Institute and associate fellow at the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House
International criminal court’s chief prosecutor has applied for arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif
Ebrahim Raisi was not a beloved figure in Iran – but that doesn’t mean his critics will necessarily be feeling optimistic today. “You will find as many different feelings about his death as there are Iranians,” Mohammad Ali Shabani said. “But within my own networks, there’s maybe a mix of people who don’t perceive him as having been influential, meaning that there won’t be a massive upheaval – but also an underlying nervousness about what’s next.”
Initial investigation by rescue group finds ageing aircraft either did not have transponder fitted or had it turned off
The helicopter that crashed killing the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, and the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, either did not have a transponder fitted or had it turned off, according to an initial investigation by the Turkish rescue group that found the wreckage.
The Turkish transport minister, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, told reporters that on hearing news of the crash, Turkish authorities had checked for a signal from the helicopter’s transponder that broadcasts height and location information. “But unfortunately, [we think] most likely the transponder system was turned off or that the helicopter did not have one,” he said.
Iran’s supreme leader has announced a five-day mourning period, but there have been fireworks and cheering in the country since the death was confirmed
Activists in Iran have said there is little mood to mourn the death of the country’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan on Sunday.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, announced a five-day public mourning period after the deaths of Raisi, the foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other passengers on the helicopter. However, Iranians who spoke to the Guardian have refused to lament the death of a man who they say was responsible for hundreds of deaths in his four-decade political career.
It was during Raisi’s tenure that protests swept the country after the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by police under Iran’s harsh hijab laws. More than 19,000 protesters were jailed, and at least 500 were killed – including 60 children – during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. The police continue to violently arrest women for refusing hijab rules.
An Iranian threat actor affiliated with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) is using destructive data wiping attacks combined with influence operations to target Israel and Albania.
Tracked as Void Manticore, aka Storm-842, the threat actor operates under multiple online personas in which the primary alias includes “Homeland Justice” for attacks in Albania and "Karma" for those in Israel.
Since October 2023, Check Point Research monitored Void Manticore's activities targeting Israeli organizations with destructive attacks using wipers and ransomware. The group employs five different methods for disruptive operations, including custom wipers for both Windows and Linux operating systems, as well as manual deletion of files and shared drives.
Void Manticore’s activities in Israel are marked by the use of a custom wiper named “BiBi,” after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The group also uses a persona named "Karma" to leak stolen information, portraying themselves as an anti-Zionist Jewish group. This persona gained prominence during the Israel-Hamas conflict in late 2023.
Void Manticore threat actor employs relatively simple and direct techniques, often using basic publicly available tools. Their operations typically involve lateral movements using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and the manual deployment of wipers. One of their prominent tools is “Karma Shell,” a homebrewed web shell disguised as an error page. This malicious shell is capable of directory listing, process creation, file uploads, and service management.
The Destructive Wiper Capabilities of Void Manticore
Void Manticore utilizes various custom wipers in their attacks:
Cl Wiper: First used in attacks against Albania, this wiper uses the ElRawDisk driver to interact with files and partitions, effectively erasing data by overwriting physical drives with predefined buffers.
Partition Wipers: These wipers remove partition information, leading to the loss of all data on the disk by corrupting the partition table, resulting in a system crash during reboot.
BiBi Wiper: Deployed in recent attacks against Israel, this wiper exists in both Linux and Windows variants. It corrupts files and renames them with specific extensions, causing significant data loss.
Apart from automated wipers, Void Manticore engages in manual data destruction using tools like Windows Explorer, SysInternals SDelete and the Windows Format utility, furthering their impact on targeted systems.
Psychological Warfare and Collaboration with Scarred Manticore
Void Manticore’s strategy also includes psychological operations, aiming to demoralize and disrupt their targets by publicly leaking sensitive information. This dual approach amplifies the impact of their cyberattacks, making them a formidable threat.
Notably, there is a significant overlap and cooperation between Void Manticore and another Iranian threat group, Scarred Manticore (aka Storm-861).
Analysis shows a systematic handoff of victims between these two groups. For instance, Scarred Manticore might establish initial access and exfiltrate data after which Void Manticore executes the destructive data wiping attack. This collaboration enables Void Manticore threat actor to leverage Scarred Manticore’s advanced capabilities and gain access to high-value targets.
“In the case of one victim, we discovered that after residing on the targeted network for over a year, Scarred Manticore was interacting with the infected machine at the exact moment a new web shell was dropped to disk. Following the shell’s deployment, a different set of IPs began accessing the network, suggesting the involvement of another actor – Void Manticore,” the researchers said.
“The newly deployed web shell and subsequent tools were significantly less sophisticated than those in Scarred Manticore’s arsenal. However, they led to the deployment of the BiBi wiper, which is linked to Karma’s activity.”
Void Manticore represents a significant cyber threat, particularly in the context of geopolitical tensions involving Iran. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in a remote area of the country. Rescuers identified Raisi's body early Monday after searching in the mountainous northwest near the Azerbaijan border.
Since his election in 2021, Raisi had tightened morality laws, cracked down on antigovernment protests and resisted international oversight of Tehran’s nuclear program. Israel’s war in Gaza has escalated conflicts with Iran-backed groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Last month, Iran and Israel exchanged direct strikes. It is still unclear whether Raisi’s death is also linked to Israeli operations.
Meanwhile, the recent escalations meant that Void Manticore’s coordinated operations with Scarred Manticore, combines their dual approach of technical destruction and psychological manipulation and positions them as a highly dangerous actor. Their activities not only target infrastructure but also aim to influence public perception and political stability, underlining the multifaceted nature of modern cyber warfare.
Media Disclaimer: This report is based on internal and external research obtained through various means. The information provided is for reference purposes only, and users bear full responsibility for their reliance on it. The Cyber Express assumes no liability for the accuracy or consequences of using this information.
With the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian regime unexpectedly finds itself faced with having to hold elections to appoint a successor. The choice for Tehran is whether to allow the vote to be semi-democratic and contested, or risk nothing by ensuring no candidate with any organisation or following stands against the hardliner likely to be chosen as the regime’s preferred candidate.
Iran has begun five days of mourning after President Ebrahim Raisi and the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were killed in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area close to the Azerbaijan border
Foreign minister also dead after aircraft went down in mountains close to Azerbaijan border
The hardline Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has died in a helicopter crash in foggy weather in the mountains near the border with Azerbaijan.
The charred wreckage of the aircraft, which crashed on Sunday carrying Raisi, as well as the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and six other passengers and crew, was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.
The death of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash comes at a time when the country, faced by unprecedented external challenges, was already bracing itself for a change in regime with the expected demise in the next few years of its 85-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In the country’s hydra-headed leadership where power is spread in often opaque ways between clerics, politicians and army, it is the supreme leader, and not the president, that is ultimately decisive.
Iran’s president along with his foreign minister have died in a helicopter crash, according to state media. Here is a summary of what we know so far:
Iranian state-run media have confirmed the death of President Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash in the province of East Azerbaijan on Sunday as they headed towards the city of Tabriz. “The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said.
The group were returning from Azerbaijan, where they had attended the inauguration of a dam alongside President Ilham Aliyev, when the helicopter crashed in a mountainous region amid poor weather conditions.
The government has yet to make an official statement but the state-run news agency Irna reported that an urgent cabinet meeting had been called and a statement was expected soon.
After an hours-long search hampered by fog and rain, rescuers found the burnt-out wreckage of the helicopter on a mountainside. The head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said as rescuers approached the wreckage, that there were “no signs of life”.
A total of nine people were on board the aircraft, according to Tasnim news agency, including the governor of East Azerbaijan, Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to East Azarbaijan province.
On Sunday, before the wreckage had been found, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to “not worry” about the leadershipof the Islamic republic, saying “there will be no disruption in the country’s work”.
The president is believed to have been travelling in Bell 212 helicopter. Iran flies a variety of helicopters in the country, but international sanctions make it difficult to obtain parts for them. Its military air fleet also largely dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
If a president dies in office, article 131 of the Islamic Republic’s constitution says that the first vice-president – in this case Mohammad Mokhber – takes over, with the confirmation of the supreme leader, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran. A council consisting of the first vice-president, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary must arrange an election for a new president within a maximum period of 50 days.
Countries including Russia, Turkey and India had expressed concern and offered assistance after reports that the helicopter carrying Raisi had gone missing. After his death was confirmed expressions of condolence also began to come in.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said on X that he is “shocked by his tragic demise” and that his “contribution to strengthening India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered.
Before news of Raisi’s death a US state department spokesperson said only that, “We are closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister”. US President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation, his spokesperson said.
Karim Khan told CNN that he is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the Israeli prime minister
Reuters has put together a list of reactions from around the world, with Iranian ally Russia among those expressing concern and offering to help search for the president. Others also offered help or well wishes, while the US merely said that President Joe Biden was “closely following reports”. Here’s a rundown of reactions from around the world:
TURKEY “I convey my best wishes to our neighbour, friend and brother Iranian people and government, and I hope to receive good news from Mr Raisi and his delegation as soon as possible,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a post on X. Turkey’s disaster and emergency management authority said in a statement that Iran had requested a night vision search-and-rescue helicopter from Turkey.
Raisi and the foreign minister are missing after their aircraft came down in mountain terrain near border with Azerbaijan in heavy fog
A rescue operation is under way in the mountains close to the Iranian-Azerbaijani border after one of the helicopters in a convoy carrying Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, was involved in a “hard landing” on Sunday, according to Iranian state media. This is what we know so far.
The incident, which involved one helicopter in a convoy of three, was described by Iranian state television as an accident.
An unnamed Iranian official told Reuters that the lives of the president and his foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were “at risk” after a “crash” as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog.
Three rescue workers searching for the crashed helicopter were reported missing by the Red Crescent but were later accounted for. A spokesperson said the search and rescue operation will slow down as the weather is expected to get “severely cold” soon with more rain forecast.
Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV described the area of the helicopter incident as being near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan.
The president had been in Azerbaijan earlier on Sunday to inaugurate a dam with the country’s president Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations have built on the Aras River.
Iran’s army chief of staff said all army resources will be used for the search and rescue operations, state TV reported. Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri has also ordered guards to take part in the search efforts, it said.
Iraq has instructed its interior ministry, the Red Crescent and other relevant bodies to offer help to neighbouring Iran and assist in the search.
A protester with a Palestinian flag on a Columbia University building on Monday. So far, there is little evidence that U.S. adversaries have provided material or organizational support to the protests.
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