November 10, 2023 at 11:23AM
Hacktivists with pro-Iranian affiliations have falsely claimed the success of cyberattacks against Israel in its conflict with Hamas, according to Microsoft. The tech giant states that allegations of pre-planned cyberattacks by Iranian state-sponsored attackers timed with Hamas’ terror attack on October 7th are also untrue. Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center reports that claims of ransomware attacks were likely fabricated, with compromised cameras being unrelated to military targets. However, Microsoft predicts that Iranian operators may become more proactive as the conflict continues.
According to Microsoft, the claims made by pro-Iranian hacktivists about the strength of cyberattacks against Israel in the current conflict with Hamas are false. Microsoft stated that any claims of ransomware attacks by the groups were likely fabricated. Iranian actors claimed to have compromised cameras at an Israeli military installation, but it was revealed to be an untargeted compromise of connected webcams unrelated to military targets. Microsoft’s report suggests that this was a case of adversaries opportunistically discovering and compromising vulnerable devices rather than a strategic attack.
Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center also mentioned that the success of network attacks has been exaggerated and amplified through information operations. They stated that there is no evidence of coordination between the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to align cyberattacks with the physical attack on October 7. However, Microsoft did report two separate “destructive attacks targeting infrastructure in Israel” on October 18 without disclosing further details.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence anticipates that as the conflict continues, Iranian operators may transition from a reactive posture to more proactive activities.