Iranian hackers have managed to break into the networks of more than 30 companies in Israel, a report says.

Israel's Ynetnews website reported on Monday that the information security company ESET found that what it called Iranian hackers took advantage of a known weakness in corporate email servers of 32 Israeli companies to introduce a backdoor, allowing them to enter their networks.

The cyber security company, which declined to disclose the names of the hacked companies, said the purported Iranian hackers also broke into a company in Brazil and another in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to the report, the hacked companies operate in diverse fields, including insurance, medicine, industry, communications, IT, technology, retail, automobile, law, financial services, architecture and civil engineering.

Ynetnews said the hacking group identified itself as Ballistic Bobcat, which is also known by other names, including Charming Kitten, TA543 or PHOSPHORUS as well as APT35/42. It said at least 16 other companies were affected by secondary attackers.

The Israeli regime has targeted Iran on many occasions either directly or by instigating and providing support for the actual perpetrators.

Back in 2012, The Washington Post reported that the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA), its spy service CIA, and Israel’s military had worked together to launch a malware, named as Stuxnet, against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In retaliation, Iranian hacking groups purportedly operate against targets in Israel.

Back in late 2020, Israeli daily Ha’aretz claimed a group of elite hackers it introduced as Iranians had advanced as far as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the regime’s major aerospace company.