A cybercriminal activity conducted by the Predatory Sparrow group resulted in publicly disclosed documents of numerous Iranian steel industries. The cybersecurity breach occurred last month and has exposed the first wave of critical documents on its Twitter profile.
Moreover, the malicious threat group deployed a cache of approximately 20GB worth of essential data. Researchers enumerated that the data included corporate documents that expose the steel facilities’ link to Iran’s influential Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In a Twitter threat written in both Persian and English, the hackers stated that the cache was just a tiny portion of the data stolen by them.
Although the group already claimed the attack last month, they also published a photograph and video claiming that they would reveal the damaged equipment in a state-owned Khouzestan Steel Company. The hackers’ news may threaten the nation since Khouzestan is one of Iran’s main steel production facilities.
In addition, the Iranian government denied every allegation of possible cyberattacks against its steel companies. However, there are numerous proofs that an attack happened against them, and some sources stated that the attacks impacted multiple factory operations.
Predatory Sparrow claimed that their attacks were meant to protect innocent people.
The Predatory Sparrow group explained that their attacks are exclusive to their targeted companies since they are executing this to protect innocent individuals.
Additionally, the group stated that these attacks were in retaliation to the aggression of the Islamic Republic. The group further elaborated that the attack on the steel firms is in line with the international sanctions, and they will continue their attacks despite the restrictions.
Some researchers believe that the Israeli government sponsors the attack of Predatory Sparrow despite claiming that their attacks are purely autonomous. According to researchers, it is plausible that a state backs the attacks, given the sophistication and nature of the campaigns.
The Predatory Sparrow group has also claimed the digital attacks on essential Iranian targets, such as the one that impacted Iran’s state-manipulated gasoline distribution in October last year. The group also targeted the Iranian railway system in August last year.
Israel-based companies will now be prone to cyberattacks whether Iran sponsors these attacks.
