Disclosure of Personal Information of Israeli Nuclear Scientist by Iranian Cyber Hackers

The Islamic Republic of Iran has published the personal information of a nuclear scientist and former director general of the Israeli Ministry of Defense on the internet. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday, November 21, that hackers linked to the Iranian intelligence apparatus have released the identities of several other nuclear scientists, private images, and emails of several other high-ranking officials from the country online. Photos of the current Israeli ambassador to the US, the former military attaché in the embassy in Washington, and family members of several senior Israeli officials have been obtained by hackers considered to be arms of Iranian intelligence agencies. According to the report, the nuclear scientist at the center of this incident works at the 'Shorak Nuclear Research Center.' Due to the proximity of this research facility to the southern city of Dimona, it is commonly referred to as the Dimona facility. Hackers that Israel has long identified as arms of the Iranian intelligence government claimed eight months ago to have obtained information from the Dimona nuclear center, which, according to Haaretz, appears to be the result of hacking government email servers that also serviced the 'Israeli Atomic Energy Committee.' The hackers claimed to have accessed several images taken at the 'Shorak Nuclear Center.' However, Israeli investigations revealed that the images were taken from the mobile phone or email account of the nuclear scientist, related to the individual's specialized work in radiation safety. An image of this scientist's passport was also released. According to Haaretz, the hackers blacked out the dates in the documents but did not notice the Hebrew date, and the publication of it indicates that the images are from the years 2014 and 2015. In this regard, it is unclear whether the hackers only accessed images or also obtained the contents of the mentioned scientist's specialized work. Shabak, Israel's internal security agency, remained silent on this matter, and Israel's National Cyber System referred Haaretz to the Prime Minister's Office for comment. The Prime Minister's Office, in a statement on behalf of the 'Atomic Energy Commission,' said that 'after a thorough review,' the photos and maps do not belong to the nuclear center, but this center confirmed the images on the computer screen, stating that these are technical materials related to the project for establishing a particle accelerator at the Shorak center. In the last two months, indictments based on interrogations conducted by the internal security agency and police of Israel have been presented to the courts against more than 20 Jewish and Palestinian citizens, almost all of whom were tasked with tracking and killing a nuclear scientist. Among them, images taken by members of an immigrant gang from Azerbaijan living in Haifa while tracking a nuclear scientist were sent by Iranian intelligence agents to a gang of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, and the head of this gang had prepared weapons to kill the mentioned individual. According to Israeli security agencies, nearly all of the recently arrested individuals were recruited by an Iranian intelligence operative active in Azerbaijan, who is likely also residing in Iran, and they were paid in cryptocurrency for various missions, but all indictments indicate that the Islamic Republic of Iran is in a severe struggle to kill an Israeli nuclear scientist. According to Haaretz, the assassination of an Israeli nuclear scientist, even one working in a civilian nuclear field, could be a success for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Israel is accused of killing Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the 'father of Iran's nuclear program,' who was killed on December 7, 2020, near Tehran. According to Israeli security officials, it appears that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not ceased its efforts to retaliate for the assassination of Fakhrizadeh. The identity and private materials of several current and former Israeli officials and their relatives have been published by Iranian hackers on a Telegram channel created for this purpose. Several suspects of espionage have also been accused of attempting to kill officials in Israel, including General Moshe Ya'alon, a former defense minister, by tracking him during his daily exercise in Tel Aviv. Information related to him had previously been published in a Telegram channel associated with Iranian intelligence hackers. Tracking and killing a female researcher at the Security Studies Center was also on the list of missions assigned to suspects of espionage by Iran. A senior expert in the National Cyber System told Haaretz that the recent goal of the Iranian hacker group, using psychological warfare methods, has been to create fear and deterrence and to impact the Israeli economy. In the past 14 months, following attacks by the extremist groups Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel, which led to the Israeli army's war in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel has experienced an unprecedented wave of cyberattacks at various levels. Two weeks ago, Haaretz reported on the infiltration of Iranian intelligence-linked hackers into the email of reserve General Yair Golan, leader of the left-wing faction in Israel, and the publication of content from it in a Telegram channel. Several sources told Haaretz that their country has been making extensive efforts to remove stolen materials from the internet and has been taking legal measures and formally requesting technology companies, social networks, and messaging services to immediately delete the leaked materials, achieving some successes, but this is a battle already lost. Israeli cyber researchers do not rule out that the hacking of the private insurance company 'Shirbit' on two occasions, once about four years ago and then early last summer, played a role in leaking personal details of government employees and specific security agencies. An application prepared by the Likud party for the parliamentary elections, containing the details of about 6 million Israelis, was also hacked, which apparently contributed to the access of Iranian intelligence-linked hackers to the details of several current and former officials of this country. During the recent US presidential election campaign, intelligence and justice agencies reported that hackers linked to Iranian intelligence had hacked the computers of both rival candidates' campaign headquarters with the aim of 'social engineering.' Iran emphasized its non-interference in the US elections in response, but by remaining silent on numerous reports of hacking related to Israel, it apparently considers it an honor for its cyber capabilities against Israel, which is itself a major cyber and technology power.