Iranian hacker group “Black Shadow” announced that they had hacked into the servers of Israeli Internet company “Cyberserve”, quickly shutting them down and threatening to leak data.

Cyberserve is a web hosting company, which means it provides servers and data storage to other companies in all industries. The data seized by Iranian hackers covers a wide variety of businesses: from the travel booking company “Pegasus” to the bus company “Dan” and even the Israel Children’s Museum.

“Hello again! We have news for you,” the group said in a Telegram message. “You probably couldn’t log into many sites today. Cyberserve and their customers have been hurt by us, ”adding another ominous threat:“ You must be wondering – what about the data? As always, we have a lot of them. If you don’t want it to be disclosed by us, contact us soon. “

Responsible for previous attacks on Israeli auto insurance company Shirbit and financial firm KLS, the Iran-based group demanded ransom bitcoins and shut down servers when Cyberserve failed to make payment. Its December 2020 attack on Shirbit was the largest cyberattack on an Israeli company at the time, and Black Shadow demanded 50 Bitcoins (nearly $ 1 million at the time) as a ransom.

A 2020 survey showed that Israeli companies paid more than US $ 1 billion to hackers as ransom in 2020, with the 2021 figure set to rise.

Israeli cybersecurity experts warn, however, that their motivations are not strictly financial – rather, experts warn, Black Shadow are Iranian-backed state agents whose goals are to harm and humiliate businesses. Israeli. Last year’s attack on Shirbit resulted in Israeli clients having their private records published, including clients’ marriage certificates, financial documents, ID card scans, and medical documents. They also threatened to sell the data to Iran if the payment was not made.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in April 2008, shortly before his centrifuges were destroyed by the Stuxnet virus. Why is the responsibility for the attacks and the implication now acknowledged with boast and bravado? (credit: PHOTO BY THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Particularly among cyber-war incidents, the Israeli intelligence agency “Mossad” has been accused of being behind the cyberattack last April that nearly wiped out the main uranium enrichment facility in Iran. Western sources quoted in Israeli media said the attack, initially described as an “accident” by Iran, was carried out by the Mossad.

It is still unclear whether or not Cyberserve plans to pay the ransom desired by Black Shadow or how Black Shadow plans to publicly disclose the data.