Google Deletes 58 YouTube, Blogger And G+ Accounts Linked To Iran

Google has issued an update on state-sponsored activity, revealing that it has deleted 58 accounts and channels across YouTube, Google Plus and Blogger that it had linked with Iran. The disclosure comes days after Facebook made a similar announcement in which it revealed that hundreds of accounts linked to Iran and Russia had been purged. As with Facebook, cybersecurity group FireEye helped Google surface some of the accounts.READ: Facebook reveals new state-sponsored accounts meddling in politics

According to Google, both it and Jigsaw worked with FireEye over the last two months on an Iran-linked "influence campaign" discovered by the security firm. FireEye found three Google Plus accounts, three YouTube channels, and yet another three email accounts linked to the activity; Google disabled them.

Google's own team found additional accounts that it says were linked to Iran, explaining there's evidence that the entities behind the accounts are associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The evidence includes IP addresses, domain owner data, subscriber info, and account metadata.

According to Google, the majority of accounts were on YouTube with 39 total. Another six accounts were on Blogger and the remaining 13 were on Google Plus. The YouTube channels collectively had 13,466 views in the United States; the videos are said to have contained English-language political content.

According to Google, these accounts were part of a larger IRIB organization campaign that has been ongoing since at least January 2017. This is only the latest of multiple issues Google has faced with Iran-linked activity. In 2013, for example, the company warned users of a "politically-motivated" phishing campaign, and it has regularly delivered warnings to Gmail users about phishing attempts originating from the nation.

SOURCE: Google