“The Czech Security Intelligence Service (BIS) has intervened and taken down servers that have been used by Hezbollah operatives to target and infect users around the globe with mobile malware. ‘I can not comment on the details, but I can confirm that BIS has played a significant role in identifying and uncovering the hackers’ system,’ said Michal Koudelka, BIS Director. ‘We identified the victims and traced the attack to its source facilities,’ Koudelka added. ‘Hacker servers have been shut down.’
BIS said the servers were located in the Czech Republic, and the agency was ‘almost certain’ they were operated by Hezbollah, an Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon, which the US and fellow NATO countries have labeled as a terrorist organization. The Czech intelligence agency said the servers and the malware distribution campaign appears to have been going on since the start of 2017. Hezbollah operatives operated by creating Facebook profiles, posing as attractive women, and reaching out to selected targets. The goal of the operation was to engage the target in private discussions and convince it to install a third-party instant messaging application to continue the conversation via this second, malware-infested app.”
Source: Czech intelligence service shuts down Hezbollah hacking operation | ZDNet
