A hacker group affiliated with Iran announced on Friday that it had breached the servers of an Israeli web-hosting company and threatened to leak data pertaining to thousands of users.
The group, calling itself “BlackShadow,” shuttered servers belonging to Cyberserve, which provides servers and data storage for companies such as Israel’s Kan news public broadcaster; the Israel Lottery; Birthright; the Dan and Kavim public transportation companies; the Children’s Museum in Holon; the LGBTQ dating app “Atraf”; the tour-booking company Pegasus; the Israeli Children’s Museum; and dozens more.
The fact that the hackers targeted an LGBTQ dating app raised particular concern among its users, as the hackers have already begun leaking their names.
On Saturday, BlackShadow hackers leaked information from Kavim. The bus company issued a statement saying the company was aware of the breach and has alerted the Transport Ministry and the National Cyber Directorate, and has “also hired external professionals in the field to complete a comprehensive, professional and independent investigation into the incident.”
The National Cyber Directorate said on Saturday that it had “warned Cyberserve multiple times” over the past year that it was vulnerable to such attacks.
It further advised Israelis whose personal data was compromised to change their passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and remain vigilant for suspicious emails and messages.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.