Microsoft: Iran Behind January Charlie Hebdo Attack

 This Friday the Microsoft Digital Threat Center said that an Iranian nation-state threat actor is behind last month's influence campaign against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. 

After saying this a large range of debates started on it.

NEPTUNIUM by Microsoft represents itself as a neutral and pure factor. It claimed that it had obtained the personal information of more than 200,000 Charlie Hebdo customers after gaining access to a database. According to a new blog post by Clint Watts, DTA C's digital manager. The group released a sample of the data as evidence. The group advertises a cache of data for sale for the equivalent of $340,000

Now Microsoft said that the attack is a response from the Iranian government. In December 2022, an international cartoon contest organized by the magazine called for caricatures ridiculing the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

Iranians should get support. Caricaturists and Cartoonists should support Iran. They are fighting for their freedom by making fun of this religious leader of another era and forgetting him and throwing him into historical oblivion.

In early January, the winner was announced. This was a day before the eighth anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack on the magazine's offices, on 7th January 2015 there were 12 people killed in this accident.

The cyberattack is near the aggressive response of the Iranian government.

But the Foreign Ministry of Iran called on the French ambassador on the 4th of January and questioned him. And just after this on the next day, the regime announced the closure of the French Research Institute in Iran.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdolahian, also took to Twitter to complain about the contest and express his disappointment. Though in January has seen major protests in Iran, against the magazine in general and the contest in particular.

US authorities have identified NEPTUNIUM as Emanat Pasargad. It is an Iranian cyber company that has been facing blame for running a multi-pronged campaign to interfere in the 2020 US presidential election. As a member of various online groups such as "Proud Boys" and "Yemen Cyber ​​Army". Mnet Pasargad is under several US sanctions.