Iranian cyberattack terrorizes Israeli daycares

Iranian hackers infiltrate panic buttons in daycare centers, playing pro-terror messages and air raid sirens.

By World Israel News Staff

Iranian hackers attacked an Israeli company that provides panic buttons in daycare facilities, maliciously sounding alarms in childcare centers, as well as playing threatening messages in Arabic and songs glorifying terrorism.

The pro-Palestinian Handala hacking group, which is believed to be composed of Iranian actors, has carried out numerous attacks on Israeli targets in recent years.

On Sunday, Handala infiltrated Magar-Tech, an Israeli business that installs panic buttons in childcare facilities that can be used to summon emergency services.

After hacking Magar-Tech, the group sounded air raid sirens via the buttons, as well as Arabic-language pro-terror songs and messages.

According to a report from Hebrew-language outlet Ynet, the hack affected approximately 20 daycare centers in Israel.

Leveraging a list of customer names and phone numbers with Magar-Tech’s internal systems, Handala then sent threatening text messages to some 10,000 Israelis.

In a statement, the National Cyber ​​Directorate recommends that municipal administrators using Magar-Tech’s panic buttons advise daycare facilities to disconnect from the system for several days and change their passwords.

The Iranian attack group claims that beyond terrorizing childcare centers, it also successfully hacked into the National Security Ministry’s internal systems.

On their Telegram channels, the group posted screenshots depicting stolen files that were said to contain personal information about police officers.

Handala said it had obtained the personal details of those who hold firearms along with information about vehicles belonging to municipal police forces.

In March 2022, an Iranian hacking group published personal documents belonging to Mossad chief David Barnea.

The materials included his Israeli identification card, flight tickets, and tax documents, along with purported satellite images of his home and a clip of him making silly faces during a personal video chat.

A tax document included in the leak was addressed to Barnea’s wife, indicating that she owed a five-figure sum to the Israeli tax authorities.