Suspected Iranian hackers publish information about users of Israeli LGBT site
Hackers suspected of having ties to Iran hacked into an Israeli internet hosting company, dismantling several of its sites. Hackers posted suspected personal information online Saturday night, including on an LGBT dating site, according to Hebrew media.
“Atraf,” a location-based dating service as well as a nightlife index, is a popular app and website in the Israeli LGBT community, especially in the Tel Aviv area.
According to Hebrew media sites, the names of “Atraf” users and their locations have been published online. The data breach had worried users, as it could expose those still in the closet.
Hackers said the information leaked online represented only 1% of the data acquired during the breach.
The cyberattack also hit websites including Israeli public transport companies Dan and Kavim, a children’s museum and a public radio’s online blog, with none of the sites available to users on Saturday at noon. The attack also targeted the Pegasus tourism company; and Doctor Ticket, a service that could contain sensitive medical data, according to Hebrew media.
The hacking group known as Black Shadow claimed responsibility for the attack and released what it said was customer data, including the names, email addresses and phone numbers of Kavim customers, on the Telegram messaging app.
“Hello again! We have news for you,” the hackers wrote in a Telegram message on Friday night.
“You probably couldn’t log into many websites today. The ‘Cyberserve’ company and their customers (have been) affected by us, ”he said.
“If you don’t want your data disclosed, contact us SOON. “
Later another message read, “They haven’t contacted us… so (the) first data is here,” the group disseminating the information online.
Later on Saturday, the group released another post claiming to have more data and released what they said was information relating to clients of transport company Dan and a travel agency.
Israeli media have stated that Black Shadow is a group of hackers linked to Iran who use cyber attacks for criminal purposes.
The group raped Israeli insurance company Shirbit in December last year, stealing a mine of data.
He demanded a million dollar ransom and began leaking the information when the company refused to pay.
The new attack comes after an unprecedented and unclaimed cyberattack that wreaked havoc on Iran’s gas distribution system this week.
Iranian media have singled out opponents of the government abroad.
Iran and Israel have engaged in a so-called “shadow war,” including several reported attacks on Israeli and Iranian ships that the two have blamed on each other, as well as cyber attacks.
In 2010, the Stuxnet virus – believed to have been engineered by Israel and its ally the United States – infected Iran’s nuclear program, causing a series of failures in the centrifuges used to enrich uranium.
