What Happened A newly released report produced by the U.S. cybersecurity firm Symantec has identified an Iran-based hacking group that has reportedly targeted a number of government organizations and businesses in a broad swath of the Middle East. In the report, Symantec said the group, dubbed Leafminer, has been operating since early 2017. However, its analysis found no evidence that the group is linked directly to the Iranian government. What is driving the group's intrusions, whether espionage, disruption or other motives, remains unclear. Evidence of Leafminer attacks was widespread in Saudi Arabia, but the group has also targeted interests in Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Symantec was able to identify the group after it accessed a server that the group left exposed — an operational security breach that led the cybersecurity firm to suggest the hackers could be relatively inexperienced.