Israel says suspected Iranian hackers targeted actors in phishing attack
Dozens of Israeli actors were targeted in a phishing attack believed to have originated from Iran, Israel's National Cyber Directorate said on Friday.
Dozens of Israeli actors were targeted in a phishing attack believed to have originated from Iran, Israel's National Cyber Directorate said on Friday.
The Directorate said attackers hacked into an email account and posed as organizers of auditions for a new film by a well-known director. The emails asked for audition videos and personal details, including scans of ID cards, passports and home addresses.
According to the statement, dozens of actors provided the material and later received threatening messages attributing the operation to groups linked to Iran, in what officials described as an attempt to apply psychological pressure.
Israeli media, including Ynet, reported that one phishing email presented itself as an audition request for a project by filmmaker Ari Folman about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. It asked applicants to record a personal video and submit supporting documents.
Broader Iranian cyber activity
The phishing campaign is the latest in a series of operations Israel and Western experts have tied to Iranian hackers. In June, following Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear targets, security officials warned of potential retaliation in cyberspace.
But researchers told Reuters at the time that Iran’s hacking capability often appeared overstated. “The volume of attacks appears to be relatively low,” said Nicole Fishbein, a researcher at Israeli firm Intezer. “The techniques used are not particularly sophisticated.”
Some Iran-linked groups such as Handala Hack have boasted of breaching Israeli and Western companies, though analysts said their impact was modest. Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard had used phishing to target Israeli journalists and academics, and in one case tried to lure a victim to a physical meeting in Tel Aviv.
Analysts compared the pattern to Iran’s missile program: a large volume of fire but limited strategic effect. “There is a lot of hot air, there is a lot of indiscriminate civilian targeting, and realistically there are not that many results,” said Yelisey Bohuslavskiy, cofounder of intelligence firm Red Sense.
