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| Iranian hackers behind March’s LA transit system breach, Israeli researchers say |
| 2026-05-27 |
| [IsraelTimes] Digital security specialists have suspected an Iranian hand in the hack since responsibility was claimed by an obscure pro-Iran outfit calling itself Ababil of Minab Iranian hackers were responsible for a disruptive computer breach in March that forced Los Angeles’ transit system to shut down parts of its network, Israeli researchers say. The saboteurs stole at least 700 gigabytes of emails, backups and other files from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), according to Gambit Security, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity firm that said it discovered the misappropriated data after it was inadvertently exposed online. In a report published on Tuesday, the company said a digital trail of evidence tied the server where the data was discovered to a previously known hacking operation that Israeli officials and researchers attributed to Tehran. Iran’s mission to the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... did not return messages seeking comment. Israel’s National Cyber Directorate did not return messages. The Los Angeles transit authority didn’t respond to questions about the findings. In a statement shared last month, its officials said they were working with law enforcement and cyber specialists as they brought their systems back online. "Attribution is part of the investigation and we will not speculate," the statement said. Digital security specialists have suspected an Iranian hand in the operation against the LACMTA ever since responsibility was claimed by an obscure pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word Iranis a cognate form of Aryan.The abbreviation IRGCis the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either Duceor Führeror maybe both. They hate outfit calling itself Ababil of Minab. The group’s name refers to a US ... KABOOM!... on a girls’ school in the Iranian city of Minab on February 28 that officials there say killed more than 175 children and teachers, and its rhetoric and modus operandi are characteristic of self-styled vigilante hacker groups that US and Israeli researchers allege are cut-outs for Iranian spies. Eyal Sela, Gambit’s director of threat intelligence, said a connection between Ababil and the Iranian state "has been a working assumption." "What our research adds is the forensic evidence to support it," he said. Gambit, a security startup founded in part by veterans of the IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit, Israel’s equivalent of the US National Security Agency, said it had alerted relevant authorities to its findings. Ababil did not return messages left via a form on its website. The FBI said it was aware of the LACMTA incident and was "coordinating with partners in response." The FBI declined further comment. The US civilian cyber defense body, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, did not return messages seeking comment. IRANIAN HACKERS ALLEGEDLY ACTIVE SINCE START OF WAR The intrusion at LACMTA was detected around March 16, its officials said in their statement. About two weeks later, Ababil materialized online and claimed to have wiped an enormous amount of data in a destructive cyberattack, publishing a video that purported to show them rampaging through the transit system’s network. Although Los Angeles transit officials said the breach did not interrupt the circulation of trains or buses, local media said it disabled at least some arrival screens and prevented customers from putting money on their transit cards. Ababil also has claimed credit for hacks affecting South Florida’s Tri-Rail commuter transit system, vehicle tracking company Vyncs, and Saudi infrastructure firm Unimac. In a statement, Tri-Rail confirmed it had been hacked "about a month ago," but said that none of the affected data was critical. Vyncs owner Agnik said it had detected its breach on April 2 but declined to comment on the nature of the data stolen by the hackers. Both Tri-Rail and Agnik said the FBI was involved, with Agnik saying in an email that the bureau "has a pretty good understanding of who these criminals are." Unimac did not return messages seeking comment. The group behind Ababil has hacked other organizations whose identity it has not publicized, Gambit Security said, citing its analysis of other data left online by the spies. Sela said they included a media organization and educational institution in Israel and an insurance brokerage in ...a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... member, but not the most reliable... , but he declined to identify them further. Iranian hackers allegedly have carried out a drumbeat of digital operations since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in late February, including a damaging attack on the medical device company Stryker and the leak of personal emails belonging to FBI Director Kash Patel. Iranian hackers are also suspected of having remotely tampered with fuel gauges at gas stations, CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... reported earlier this month. |
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