An Israel-linked group appears to have hacked Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, transferring more than $90 million out of crypto wallets, according to the blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.
The Israeli hacking group, known as Gonjeshke Darande or Predatory Sparrow, claimed early Wednesday that they had conducted cyberattacks against Nobitex, just one day after claiming responsibility for the hack of a state-owned Iranian bank.
The latest hack comes amid increasing tensions between Iran and Israel, as the two sides volley attacks at one another following Tel Aviv’s surprise attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities and missile sites last week.
The hacked Nobitex funds are currently held by addresses that feature explicit language taking aim at Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), underscoring the motivations behind the hack, according to Elliptic.
The funds appear to have been effectively destroyed by the hacking group. Elliptic noted it is “computationally infeasible” to create addresses with such long text strings, meaning the hackers likely do not have the private keys to access the funds.
“It’s technically infeasible for them to have the private keys for these addresses, so the funds are lost,” Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, said in a statement.
“You can create crypto addresses containing specific text, but it becomes exponentially more computationally expensive as the length of the text increases,” he continued. “This enabled the hacker to send a clear message, but at a very high cost.”
The Israeli hacking group said it was targeting Nobitex for facilitating terrorism financing and sanctions evasion.
Two IRGC operatives, who have been sanctioned by the U.S. for their ties to ransomware operations, have used the crypto exchange, according to Elliptic.
The blockchain analytics company has also identified interactions between Nobitex and wallets associated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis — all of which are designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. government.
The potential for terrorist groups and other sanctioned entities to use crypto exchanges to evade restrictions has long been a concern surrounding the industry. However, crypto advocates often argue it is easier to track and block illegal transactions over the blockchain.
