Iran-Linked Group Claims To Hack Israeli Defense Firm, Releases Employee Data

An Iran-linked hacking group on Sunday claimed to have breached the Israeli Aerospace Industries’ computer systems, in the latest in a series of cyberattacks on Israeli firms.

The group, known as Pay2Key, revealed its alleged hack in a tweet.

The hacking group, which has been tied to Iran, also mentioned a systems administrator at the defense contractor’s Elta subsidiary by name, Koby Fiada, revealing his password.

The Israeli cyber security firm ClearSky, which released a report on Pay2Key three days before the alleged IAI hack, said the group was likely an offshoot of an Iranian hacking cooperative known as Fox Kitten.

“We estimate that this campaign is part of the ongoing cyber confrontation between Israel and Iran, with the most recent wave of attacks causing significant damage to some of the affected companies,” ClearSky wrote last Thursday.

According to Karine Nahon, an Israeli information scientist, Pay2Key released employee data files, on Sunday night, on the so-called dark web, parts of the internet that are not indexed by search engines.