A hacking group potentially linked to Iran government managed to compromise the systems of an Israel-based web hosting company, leading to the downfall of multiple websites, including those of the Israeli education system, a museum, a public radio blog, and other platforms.
The hacker group identified as Black Shadow claimed responsibility for the attack and published the information of alleged customers of this hosting company, exposing confidential details such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and usernames in applications such as Telegram.
Media outlets in Israel have identified Black Shadow as a hacking group sponsored by Iranian intelligence agencies, which resort to such cyber operations for malicious purposes, especially state hacking.
Just a year ago, this group was identified as primarily responsible for the hacking of the Israeli insurer Shirbit, demanding that the company’s executives pay a millionaire ransom in exchange for restoring its systems to normal.
Moreover, this new attack comes just a couple of days after an unidentified threat actor managed to compromise gasoline distribution systems in Iran, so some experts on international relations issues believe that this could be a form of retaliation.
It should be noted that these countries have been involved in what experts call shadow war, a series of intelligence and espionage tactics that includes the use of cyberwarfare, attacks on ships on both sides and other espionage tactics. Some specialists fear that, eventually, these activities will escalate to a point where military troops from both countries begin to intervene in the opposite territory.
A flashpoint of these political tensions came in 2010, when Israeli Stuxnet malware was detected on some critical systems in Iran, crippled its nuclear facilities.
To learn more about information security risks, malware variants, vulnerabilities and information technologies, feel free to access the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) websites.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
