Israel denies Iran-linked hacking group breached police systems

A hacking group reportedly linked to Iran's intelligence ministry claims to have infiltrated Israel's police systems and obtained data including personnel files, weapons inventories, and medical and psychological profiles.

In a post on Telegram, Handala said the 2.1 terabytes of stolen information also includes legal cases, weapon permits, and identity documents. It also claims to have extracted 350,000 documents and made them publicly accessible.

Israeli police denied the attack, saying there was no evidence of a breach.

"Following inquiries regarding an alleged hack into police systems, we would like to clarify that after a thorough investigation, no external party had access to the police's information systems, and there is no indication that a hack occurred or that information was leaked," they said in a statement on X.

Last month, the same hacking group targeted kindergartens in Israel, disrupting public address (PA) systems and infiltrating emergency systems in at least 20 locations by exploiting vulnerabilities in a private company's infrastructure.

Additionally, the group used another system belonging to the same company to send tens of thousands of threatening text messages to Israeli citizens.

At the time, Israel's National Cyber Directorate confirmed the breach and said it is working with the affected company and the Ministry of Education to address the situation.

Last year in September, the group claimed it had successfully breached the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, alleging the theft of 197 gigabytes of data.

The hackers also published around 30 photos they claimed were taken inside the center, along with screenshots allegedly showing the names of nuclear scientists involved in the facility's particle accelerator project.

In response, the Israeli prime minister's office, speaking on behalf of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, denied the authenticity of the images. "Following a thorough examination, the images and blueprint do not belong to any of its facilities," the statement said.

According to Microsoft, Israel has become the top target of Iranian cyberattacks since the start of the Gaza war, replacing the US as the number one target.

"Following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Iran surged its cyber, influence, and cyber-enabled influence operations against Israel," Microsoft said in its recent annual report.

"From October 7, 2023, to July 2024, nearly half of the Iranian operations Microsoft observed targeted Israeli companies," the Microsoft Digital Defense Report said.