State-sponsored Iranian hackers have been involved in over 50 attacks on various private and public sector computer systems, in one of the largest scale destructive hacking groups in the world.

The attacks - documented in a 50-page report by security firm Cylance - claim 16 different countries were hit, including the U.S. The Iranian hackers targeted both public and private sector, with core connections to government and infrastructure.

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Using techniques like phishing scams and SQL injections, the hackers were capable of compromising whole computer systems. Once inside, the hackers infected systems with malware to steal information, or destroy the whole system.

Iran's major focus went on energy, transportation and medical services. The sort of information from U.S. and South Korean companies could be vital to Iran's future growth.

The hacking group also attacked countries close to home, like Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel and Qatar. It is currently unclear whether the Iranian government directly funds the hacking group, putting it in a similar situation to the Syrian Electronic Army.

Successful hacks have mostly lead to removal of information, but could be more destructive. Sony Pictures were recently attacked by a similar malware attack, turning the computer system off for a full week.

North Korea, another country with various human rights violations, has been noted as potential Sony Pictures attackers. It seems the malware attack is understood and used frequently by hacking collectives funded by the government.

The Iranian hacking group are not the largest or most deadly hacking force in the world, but certain present some threat due to the destructive attacks. The U.S. has had a muddied cyber relationship with Iran, ever since the U.S. used the Stuxnet attack to destroy one fifth of all centrifuges at a uranium enrichment facility, back in 2010.

TagsIran, North Korea, hackers, state-sponsored terrorism, cyber espionage