Recent reports reveal that hackers linked to Iran have been using cyber operations to support real-world attacks, highlighting the growing overlap between digital espionage and physical warfare. Experts say this trend, known as cyber-enabled kinetic targeting, shows how nation-state threat actors are increasingly combining online reconnaissance with military objectives.
Amazon’s security team observed the Iran-affiliated group Imperial Kitten, also known as Tortoiseshell, conducting digital surveillance between December 2021 and January 2024. The group targeted a ship’s Automatic Identification System to gain access to critical shipping infrastructure and even accessed CCTV cameras onboard to gather live visual intelligence. On January 27, 2024, they carried out targeted searches for the AIS location of a specific vessel. Just days later, the same ship was attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in an unsuccessful missile strike. The Houthi movement, involved in several attacks in the Red Sea, has acted in support of Hamas in its conflict with Israel.
Another case involved MuddyWater, linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which in May 2025 set up cyber infrastructure to access live CCTV feeds from Jerusalem. This allowed real-time intelligence collection ahead of widespread missile attacks on the city later that year. The Israel National Cyber Directorate noted that “Iranians have been trying to connect to cameras to understand what happened and where their missiles hit to improve their precision.” These attacks demonstrate how cyber espionage can directly inform and enhance physical strikes.
Both groups reportedly used anonymizing VPNs to conceal their locations and avoid attribution. Security experts warn that this combination of digital reconnaissance and physical targeting represents a major shift in modern warfare. “Nation-state actors are recognizing the force multiplier effect of combining digital reconnaissance with physical attacks,” Amazon said. “This trend represents a fundamental evolution in warfare, where the traditional boundaries between cyber and kinetic operations are dissolving.”
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