Facebook says Iran-based hackers used site to target US military personnel

Social media company takes down 200 accounts

Hallmarks of a well-resourced and persistent operation'

Facebook said on Thursday it had taken down about 200 accounts run by a group of hackers in Iran as part of a cyber-spying operation that targeted mostly US military personnel and people working at defense and aerospace companies.

The social media company said the group, dubbed Tortoiseshell" by security experts, used fake online personas to connect with targets, build trust - sometimes over the course of several months - and drive them to other sites, where they were tricked into clicking malicious links that would infect their devices with spying malware.