Iran Unit Behind Charlie Bedo Hack-And-Leak Op: Microsoft

After the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo launched a cartoon contest to mock Iran’s ruling cleric, a state-backed Iranian cyber unit struck back with a hack-and-leak campaign that was designed to provoke fear with the claimed pilfering of a big subscriber database, Microsoft security researchers say, Frank Bajak reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: A representative for Charlie Hebdo said Friday that the newspaper would not comment on the Microsoft research.

The FBI blames the same Iranian cyber operator, Emennet Pasargad, for an influence operation that sought to interfere in the 2020 US presidential election, the tech giant said in a blog published. Iran has in recent years stepped up false-flag cyber operations as a tool for discrediting foes.

Calling itself “Holy Souls” and posing as hacktivists, the group claimed in early January to have obtained personal information on 200,000 subscribers and Charlie Hebdo merchandise buyers, according to Microsoft’s Digital Threat Analysis Center.

As proof of the data theft, “Holy Souls” released a 200-record sample with names, phone numbers, and home and email addresses of Charlie Hebdo subscribers that “could put the magazine’s subscribers at risk for online or physical targeting” by extremists.

The group then advertised the supposed complete data cache on several dark websites for $340,000. Microsoft said it did not know whether anyone purchased the cache.

A representative for Charlie Hebdo said Friday that the newspaper would not comment on the Microsoft research. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

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