The hackers released personal photos and documents allegedly obtained by breaching the accounts of several senior Israeli officials, say reports.
New Delhi: For anyone who is following Iran-Israel relations and conflict, this piece of news might come as a jolt. Israel is world-famous for its highly advanced technological prowess and the alleged numerous cyber-attacks on Iran’s military and nuclear systems.
An X user US Civil Defense News @CaptCoronado posted on November 5: “Update: Israeli Nuclear research center hacked by Iran!! The Iranian Handala hacking group has announced a new cyber attack. They successfully infiltrated the safety unit of Israel’s Soreq Nuclear Research Center, extracting over 20GB of highly classified data.”
🚨Update: Israeli Nuclear research center hacked by Iran!!
The Iranian Handala hacking group has announced a new cyber attack. They successfully infiltrated the safety unit of Israel’s Soreq Nuclear Research Center, extracting over 20GB of highly classified data! pic.twitter.com/xR7vQ9ntMB
— US Civil Defense News (@CaptCoronado) November 5, 2024
But now, as this report suggests, the personal details of an Israeli nuclear scientist and a former senior defense official have been accessed by a group of hackers believed to be affiliated to Iranian intelligence, reports the Israeli daily Haaretz. This report was carried on Monday, November 11.
“In addition to the nuclear scientist’s exposure, the hackers released personal photos and documents allegedly obtained by breaching the accounts of several senior Israeli officials,” reports Haaretz.
The hackers also targeted a former major general who previously headed the military’s cyber operations before serving as Defense Ministry director-general. His passport photo was published with the hackers threatening “to release their full cache of documents in the future,” reported the paper adding that in March, the group claimed to have stolen data from the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, “apparently through a breach of government email servers, including those of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission.”
The paper further says that about 10 days back, the hackers released approximately 30 images allegedly from the Soreq Nuclear Research Center.
However, Haaretz said, “careful analysis reveals that these photos were not actually taken at either Soreq or Dimona.” Rather, it appeared to have been obtained from the nuclear scientist’s cell phone or email account.
“The leaked materials included several computer system screenshots, apparently from the SARAF particle accelerator project in which the scientist was involved, revealing the names of additional nuclear scientists,” the paper said.
The National Cyber Directorate declined to comment and the Shin Bet security service also refused to comment.
The hackers also leaked personal materials “belonging to a current Israeli ambassador and a former military attaché in the United States, as well as information about family members of senior Israeli officials.”
Since last October, Israel has faced “an unprecedented surge in cyberattacks of varying sophistication,” said Haaretz.
“Successfully targeting an Israeli scientist, even one involved in civilian nuclear research, would represent a significant psychological victory for Iran,” Haaretz said.
Earlier in April, The Jerusalem Post reported that an Iranian cyber group named Handala had claimed to have breached Israel’s radar systems and sent hundreds of thousands of threatening text messages to Israeli citizens.
The group alleged it infiltrated the radar systems and dispatched 500,000 text messages to Israeli citizens. “You have only a few hours to fix the systems,” the message warned.
Handala has also claimed to discover a “backdoor” in widely used Vidisco security scanners that allowed explosives used in pager attacks on Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon on September 17 to go undetected.
Cybersecurity researcher Kevin Beaumont said he has confirmed that a breach of Vidisco did occur.
“I have confirmed with sources that the hack of Vidisco is real. They have a significant cybersecurity incident running, which includes data exfiltration,” Beaumont had documented, reports thecyberexpress.com.