Iranian Hackers Can Beat Encrypted Apps like Telegram, Researchers Say News Highlights: Iranian Hackers Can Beat Encrypted Apps like Telegram, Researchers Say. Iranian hackers, most likely government employees or affiliates, have conducted an extensive cyber-espionage operation equipped with surveillance tools that outsmart encrypted messaging systems – a capability that Iran was previously unknown to have, according to two digital security reports released Friday. have been released. The operation not only targets domestic dissidents, religious and ethnic minorities and anti-government activists abroad, but could also be used to spy on the general public in Iran, the reports said. Check Point Software Technologies, a cybersecurity technology company, and the Miaan Group, a human rights organization that focuses on digital security in the Middle East.