Washington (CNN) -- Hackers based in Iran used social networks to spy on high-ranking U.S. and Israeli officials, a new report by a cybersecurity firm claims. Posing as journalists and government officials, the hackers have been working for about three years to get close to their targets, connecting with at least 2,000 people in the process, according to the report from iSight Partners. "While it's low sophistication technically, it's actually one of the most elaborate social media, or socially engineered, espionage campaigns we've ever seen," Tiffany Jones, a senior vice president at iSight, told CNN. The firm says that it doesn't have hard evidence tying Iran to the hacking but that "the targeting, operational schedule, and infrastructure used in this campaign is consistent with Iranian origins."
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Hackers posed as journalists and government officials, a cybersecurity report says
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They built connections on social networks to get close to their targets
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The aim was to get passwords and other credentials from diplomatic and defense officials
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The firm says the targets and the infrastructure used points to Iran-based hackers
As far as the general public is concerned, @placeholder advises vigilance when using social networks.