Hudson Researchers uncovered a series of sophisticated cyber attacks targeting prominent companies in Iran, perpetrated by a mysterious hacker using the alias ‘irleaks.’ The hacker’s activities began on December 20th, announcing the sale of 160 million records supposedly pilfered from 23 leading insurance firms in Iran. These compromised records contain extensive personal information, including names, birth dates, contact details, national codes, and more. The hacker even provided a sample of the stolen data and priced the entire dataset at $60,000.
This unsettling revelation was followed by another breach on December 30th, where ‘irleaks’ claimed responsibility for hacking SnappFood, Iran’s largest delivery platform, and allegedly stealing 3 Terabytes of data. The compromised data from SnappFood includes 20 million users’ credentials, 51 million user addresses, 600,000 credit card records, and a staggering 180 million device-related details. Hudson Rock researchers, while investigating the SnappFood breach, discovered an infected employee’s computer that harbored the StealC infostealer, potentially serving as an initial attack vector for accessing sensitive organizational credentials.
The thorough analysis conducted by Hudson Rock verified the authenticity of the leaked data, raising concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities within Iran’s corporate infrastructure. The researchers suspect a coordinated effort behind these attacks, hinting at a potential nation-state involvement due to the level of sophistication observed in the breaches. The incidents point towards a significant threat to data security and underscore the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity measures, particularly within critical sectors like insurance and delivery services, to combat such targeted cyber threats effectively.
