TEHRAN – In a shift of battlefield, pro-Israeli hackers targeted Iran’s Nobitex. After tensions escalated between Tehran and Tel Aviv. Iran’s top cryptocurrency exchange, Nobitex, has reportedly been a target of Israel’s digital attack against Iran through a sophisticated cyberattack that cost nearly $90 million in digital assets to Iran. The attackers are being linked with a hacking group known as Gonjeshke Darande, or “Predatory Sparrow,” the same hacking group that was involved in many cyberattacks against Iran.
The cyberattack occurred in the early hours of the morning, targeting multiple blockchain networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and TRON. Initially, a loss of around $73 million was reported; however, updated analysis showed a much larger loss between $90 million and $100 million. The ones to conduct the analysis are blockchain forensics firms such as Elliptic and TRM Labs.
The hackers embedded phrases such as “F\ckIRGCterrorists” directly into the public keys. Analysts called these methods rare and resource-intensive. Which can only be conducted by a highly capable and heavily funded entity.
According to experts, the hackers would not be able to make use of the stolen funds as they may not even hold the private keys to the wallets. This cyberattack has been deemed a political act to disrupt and embarrass Iran.
It is pertinent to mention here that Nobitex has previously been accused of facilitating crypto transactions for groups like Hamas, the Houthis, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. This is believed to be one of the key reasons for a cyberattack on Nobitix to disrupt Iran’s economic and geopolitical influence.
