A series of Hamas-sponsored cyberattacks targeting officials in the Palestinian Authority was uncovered during the last several months by Cybereason, Eurasia Diary reports citing Bulgarian Military News.

The Boston-based company revealed several cyber-warfare operations targeting organizations and individuals in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – including Palestinian Authority officials – in a report from its Nocturnus Research Group titled “New Cyber Espionage Campaigns Targeting Palestinians.”

According to Cybereason, having identified the targets, the Hamas unit would hack into the victims’ mobile phones, gaining access to their microphones and cameras as well as files and information stored on the devices.

Cybereason says it monitored the attacks, discovering they were carried out in a similar way to previous attacks the unit committed against Israeli strategic assets. The unit, says the company, is a politically-motivated cell that has acted against various targets across the Middle East since 2012.

The cell reportedly used new malware called Pierogi first discovered in December 2019 by Cybereason, resembling patterns of action used in the past by MoleRATs.