The group has targeted telecommunications, internet service providers and universities in the Middle East and Africa, researchers said.

The Iranian cyberespionage group known as APT 42 is characterized by targeted spear phishing campaigns and extensive surveillance operations.

The bill tasks the Department of Commerce with creating new export rules.

The long-running operation involved hijacked email accounts, phony login pages and a legitimate ID verification service.

The remote access trojan mimics legitimate computer activity to make it harder to detect, the researchers said.

Strontium — a group linked to Russian military intelligence — was using the domains to target Ukrainian institutions, Microsoft said.