The escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran has arrived in the digital world, intensifying a cybership campaign and espionage between two countries known for their technological abilities.
On Tuesday (17), a Hacker Group Pro-Israel took over an attack on one of the leading Iranian banks. The state agency Irib has confirmed that the country’s critical infrastructure was the target of an Israeli cyber offensive. The next day, the same group claimed to have invaded the Nobitex Iranian cryptocurrency broker.
Fars Agency, linked to Islamic Revolutionary Guard, said Iran has suffered more than 6,700 Denial Attacks (DDOS) in the last three days. Authorities have even imposed temporary restrictions on the Internet as a way to mitigate the effects of these attacks, which overload servers with artificial traffic, making sites and services inaccessible.
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Users reported widespread instability on internet access and failures on virtual private networks (VPNs) on Tuesday night. There were also complaints about banking services such as ATMs and online platforms. It is still unclear whether problems have been caused directly by attacks or government actions to minimize their effects.
The attacks mark a new chapter of the digital clash between the two countries, which has lasted more than two decades.
According to Google data, Iran and its regional allies, such as Hamas, have carried out phishing campaigns, disinformation operations, and destructive attacks on Israel – with variable effectiveness. On the other hand, Israel is widely considered one of the world’s most advanced nations in Ciberofensives.
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A milestone of this rivalry was Stuxnet, a virus discovered in 2010, which sabotaged components linked to the Iranian nuclear program and is attributed to a joint US and Israel action.
Now, the hacker group “Predatory Sparrow”, which has already performed cyber offensives against Iran in the last five years, has returned to the scene. On Tuesday, he said he destroyed data from Bank Sepah, justifying that the institution would help to circumvent international sanctions. The next day, he announced the invasion of Broker Nobitex.
Blockchain expert ZachxBT pointed to suspicious looting of the Iranian brokerage, estimating more than $ 81 million in cryptors.
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Nobitex has confirmed signs of unauthorized access to internal systems and part of the Hot Wallets, but promised to reimburse users. Already Bank Sepah did not comment.
Since 2021, Predatory Sparrow has stood out for destructive attacks on Iran’s strategic systems, such as railways, gas stations, a steelmaker and even the disclosure of the alleged aiatollae telephone Ali Khamenei.
The group maintains a visibility strategy in social networks, reinforcing the psychological character of their actions. After attacking the Bank Sepah, he published: “This is what happens to institutions that support the terrorist fantasies of a dictator.”
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