An Iranian group hacked dozens of CCTV cameras in Israel in 2021 and maintained access for a long period of time.

An Iranian group of hackers, known as Moses Staff, had seized control of dozens of Israeli CCTV cameras, the hack was known to the authorities that did nothing to stop it, reported The Times of Israel which had access to a preview of the full investigative report.

“In a preview of a full investigative report set to be aired on Tuesday, the Kan public broadcaster said officials did not take action to secure the cameras, despite their knowledge of the activities of the group, known as Moses Staff.” reported The Times of Israel.

According to Kan, hackers gained access to the CCTV cameras and were able to control them for a lengthy period.

In 2021, the group published footage on its Telegram channel of the surroundings of Israel’s Rafael defense contractor factory in Haifa, as well as footage from cameras throughout Israeli cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

A picture shows a security camera of a big security organization that was hacked by Iranian hackers, in Jerusalem, November 24, 2022 . Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** אירן שב”כ מצלמת אבטחה האקר פיגוע תיעוד נפרץ – Source (The Times of Israel)

The group published several videos, including footage of an arms facility and of a terror attack in Jerusalem in November.

The video of the attack was a previously unseen footage and came from surveillance cameras used by a major Israeli security organization. The Moses Staff group claimed it had hacked security cameras.

“We’ve been surveillance [sic] you for many years, at every moment and on each step. This is just one part of our surveillance over your activities through access to CCTV cameras in the country. We had said that, we will strike you while you never would have imagined,” the group wrote on its Telegram channel in January speaking to the Israeli intelligence.

Now security officials told Kan that the footages uploaded by Moses Staff come from civilian cameras that were not connected to any security infrastructure.

According to Kan, the full report provides details on the surveillance acitvity conducted by Moses Staff by hacking the cameras to spy on senior Israeli officials, it also includes information of the Iranian group.

According to The Times of Israel, in June the Iranian hacker group claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that caused rocket sirens to go off in some areas of Jerusalem and the southern city of Eilat.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Iranian group)

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