Risky Bulletin Between Three Nerds: The evolution of Iranian cyber espionage
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Dec 15, 2025 Hamid Kashfi, CEO and founder of DarkCell, is a cybersecurity expert specializing in Iranian cyber espionage. He reveals the evolution of Iran's hacking scene, discussing how the regime's past suppression of domestic talent has transformed into a new focus on training and recruitment. Kashfi highlights the lax OPSEC culture among Iranian operators, the strategic handling of zero-days, and the integration of cyber capabilities with kinetic operations. He also shares insights on how Iran uses lessons from attacks like Shamoon and Stuxnet to improve their techniques.
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Exposure Can Reward Operators
- Public exposure often boosts Iranian operators' careers rather than ending them.
- Hamid Kashfi says media attention can secure promotions and bigger budgets for those groups.
Suppression Broke The Research Pipeline
- Government suppression around 2005–2010 crushed Iran's open security research scene.
- Hamid Kashfi links that disruption to a long gap in deep technical expertise nationally.
State-Sponsored Training Raised Tradecraft
- Iran shifted to building training pipelines and front companies to grow talent.
- Hamid Kashfi notes new red‑teaming and OS internals training are seeding improved tradecraft.