Saher Naumaan

Saher Naumaan is a Threat Intelligence Analyst at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence. She currently researches state-sponsored cyber espionage with a focus on threat groups and activity in the Middle East. Saher specialises in analysis covering the intersection of geopolitics and cyber operations, and regularly speaks at public and private conferences around the world, including SAS, Virus Bulletin, FIRST, and BSides.

She is currently a cybersecurity fellow with the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI). She is also the creator and organiser of RESET (2018 and 2019), the first cybersecurity conference in Europe with an all female line-up. Prior to working at BAE, Saher graduated from King’s College London with a Master’s in Intelligence and Security, where she received the Barrie Paskins Award for Best MA dissertation in War Studies.

Talk: A Year in the Life: An Iranian Group’s Road to Fame

DireFate, an Iranian actor also known as DEV-0270 and Nemesis Kitten (and likely part of Charming Kitten/PHOSPHORUS) was first seen in 2021 with activity ranging from vulnerability scanning to disruption along with global, opportunistic targeting but with a likely focus on the US and Israel. Over the year, DireFate made several opsec mistakes, leading to several insights into the actor and its operations. This talk will trace DireFate’s activities from its appearance in 2021 into 2022, covering the group’s campaigns, malware, and victims. The group’s activities will then be contextualized within larger trends in targeting and tactics recently seen among Iranian actors.