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Anonymous and other hacktivist groups have organized cyberattacks and are now engaged in a full-on assault on Iranian officials and institutions, joining the protesters on the ground in resistance to the country’s strict laws.
As Internet access in Iran has been extremely limited in recent weeks, hackers are using apps such as Telegram to aid anti-government protesters with bypassing regime censorship.
Key activities are data leaking and selling, including officials’ phone numbers and emails, and maps of sensitive locations.
The Names Involved
On September 25th, Anonymous claimed to have broken into the database of the Iranian Parliament, obtaining the personal information of lawmakers.
Anonymous-affiliated groups say they also managed to get access to data belonging to various government institutions, and claimed responsibility for hacks on the Iranian presidency, central bank and state media.
Back on Telegram, another actor by the name of Atlas Intelligence Group appears to be primarily focused on publishing data associated with government officials and celebrities, thus applying the doxxing tactic. With the self-attributed name of “CyberArmy,” the group has also advertised a wide range of services in the past, such as data leaks, DDoS attacks, and remote access to organizations.
According to The Hacker News, other groups of interest are ARVIN, with its 5000 members, and RedBlue™ with about 4,000 member-group on Telegram. Their contribution means sharing news reports about the ongoing protests and providing a list of Open VPN servers to avoid internet blockades.
Another tool Iranians are encouraged to access is the Tor browser. Tor is often used to access the dark web but might prove helpful for users trying to connect to normal websites anonymously.
While verifying the hacktivists` claims proves to be a difficult task, cybersecurity experts declared for CNBC that they have seen numerous signs of disruption from vigilante hackers.
A Constant Presence
Anonymous’ and affiliated groups taking action is not a thing of novelty. Earlier this year, Anonymous declared cyberwar on Russia and pledged support for Ukraine, in response to Moscow’s unprovoked invasion. Among the activity the group claimed credit for, was the hacking of the Russian Ministry of Defense database, as well as multiple state TV channels.
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