On video: Shin Bet's warning to Iranian security officials/Shab's spokespersons
Microsoft publishes this morning (Wednesday) in a new report that Iran has significantly increased its cyber activity against Israel since October 7. The report, prepared by Microsoft's Cyber Intelligence Center, presents an alarming picture of extensive Iranian activity that included targeted hacks, Influence operations on social networks, use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, and the publication of fake news and propaganda.
These goals seek to undermine Israel and the information environment of its supporters in order to create general confusion and mistrust.
Among other things, according to Microsoft, you can see an almost two-fold increase in cyber attacks and the impact on Israel in the weeks after the war, a 30% increase in the consumption of Iranian propaganda in English-speaking countries that support Israel and in the United States.
In addition, no proof was found of coordination between the cyber attacks of Iran and Hamas on the day of the attack on Israel.
According to Microsoft, an almost two-fold increase in cyber attacks and the impact on Israel can be seen in the weeks after the war/ShutterStock
In the first week of the war, there was a 42% increase in traffic to websites where posts and articles were published by the Iranians - this was due to an increase in Iranian influence attacks and the publication of articles and publications on a wide variety of platforms.
This increase was felt mainly in English-speaking countries that support the United States and Israel.
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Also, the number of active cyber groups in Israel increased from 9 in the first week of the war to 14 in the second week.
Impact attacks increased from one attack every two months in 2021 to 11 attacks during October alone.
"As the war progressed, especially from the end of November at the same time as the Houthi attacks, the Iranian groups expanded their activities to other countries that support Israel, such as Albania and Bahrain, and to companies that trade with Israel," Microsoft explains.
Fake: "Tears of War" poster, as part of Iranian propaganda/official website, screenshot
The report also adds that Iran aims to exacerbate the internal political and social divisions in its targets, often focusing on the Israeli government's approach to the 240 Hamas abductees in Gaza, and posing as peace activist groups that criticize the Israeli government.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu is a major target for these types of messages, and there are often calls for his removal," it said.
As you may recall, Iran has repeatedly managed to recruit unaware Israelis to participate in activities on the ground promoting its false operations.
One such was called "Tears of War", in which Iranian intelligence operatives convinced Israelis to hang advertising posters with the title "Tears of War" in neighborhoods throughout Israel.
The images, according to the report, were generated by artificial intelligence as well.
Iranian cyber attacks according to and after the Israel-Hamas war/official website, Microsoft
According to Microsoft's research groups, estimates are that a pair of groups related to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry collaborated in a cyber attack on Israel at the end of October, and also on a country that supports Israel - Albania.
Also, as the report shows, the goal is to influence English speakers and lead to hate speech against Israel on social networks.
The AI is also present in the attacks
Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, Iran has increased its influence operations and hacking efforts against Israel, creating a terrifying environment of "high alert".
However, despite certain reports in Iranian state media, Iranian cyber and propaganda bodies were reactive in the initial phase of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Security Threat Research and Analysis Center (MTAC) found that Iranian media published misleading details about alleged attacks and that Iranian groups reused old material from previous operations and exaggerated the scope and overall damage of alleged cyber attacks.
Iran disrupted online TV services and replaced them with a fake news video/official website, screenshot
For example, in early December, Iran disrupted online television services and replaced them with a fake news video featuring a news anchor apparently created by artificial intelligence.
"This was the first Iranian influence operation identified by Microsoft in which artificial intelligence played a key role in its messages, and this is just one example of the rapid and significant expansion in the scope of Iranian operations since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The interference reached audiences in the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Canada," the report states.
In fact, a Microsoft study found that the most significant increase in Iranian news consumption occurred in the US and English-speaking countries allied with the US.
In the first week of the conflict, a 42% increase was recorded.
This increase was particularly noticeable in the United States and its English-speaking allies (UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), which indicates Iran's ability to reach Western audiences with its reports on conflicts in the Middle East.
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