Charlie Hebdo breach attributed to sanctioned Iranian hackers

Microsoft researchers reported that U.S.-sanctioned Iranian cybersecurity firm Emennet Pasargad, which is also tracked as Neptunium, was behind the hack and attempted sale of stolen data from French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, according to CyberScoop. Personal data from 230,000 Charlie Hebdo customers, including their names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, and financial data, were claimed to be stolen by threat actor "Holy Souls," in a hacking forum, with the user claiming to have 250,000 other documents and seeking 20 bitcoins, or nearly $340,000, in exchange for the information. "The release of the full cache of stolen data assuming the hackers actually have the data they claim to possess would essentially constitute the mass doxing of the readership of a publication that has already been subject to extremist threats (2020) and deadly terror attacks (2015)," said Microsoft. Emennet Pasargard was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2021 for its attempted interference of the 2020 U.S. presidential elections. The FBI also warned that Emennet Pasargard was engaging in false-flag campaigns prior to the midterm polls last year.