Pro-Israel hackers steal $90M from Iranian exchange: report
A pro-Israel hacking collective has made off with $90 million worth of digital assets in a hack on Nobitex, an Iranian exchange.
The group, known as Gonjeshke Darande (which is Farsi for 'Predatory Sparrow'), took responsibility for the attack in posts on X. The group followed up by releasing Nobitex's source code and warning that all assets remaining with the exchange were at risk.
'The Nobitex exchange is at the heart of the regime's efforts to finance terror around the world,' claimed Gonjeshke Darande in an X post.
'Nobitex does not even hide the fact that it circumvents sanctions, but rather explicitly teaches this on its website. The regime's dependence on this exchange is so great that working at Nobitex is considered an alternative to military service, as this channel is vital to the regime.'
According to the group, the trove includes $48.7 million in USDT, $6.7 million in Dogecoin, and $1.9 million in BTC.
Notably, the group claimed it had 'burned' the stolen funds by sending them to addresses with no known keys, effectively destroying the hoard. Blockchain investigator Elliptic corroborates this, finding funds began flowing from Nobitex to addresses containing variations of the term 'F*ckIRGCTerrorists' on the morning of the attack.
Earlier this week, the group took responsibility for another hack that destroyed data at Iran's state-owned bank Sepah, saying that it was an institution that 'circumvented international sanctions and used the people of Iran's money to finance the regime's terrorist proxies, its ballistic missile program and its military nuclear program.' However, the group has a longer history of targeting Iran. An attack in 2023 apparently shut down 70% of the gas stations in Iran. In 2022, they claimed credit for a fire that broke out in an Iranian steel mill in a rare instance of physical damage resulting directly from a hacking attack.
Gonjeshke Darande's claims about Nobitex are hardly controversial. Next to North Korea, the country is regularly named in the context of digital assets' role in helping states blunt or avoid international sanctions.
A series of reports from Reuters in 2022 accused Binance of helping Iranian nationals to make $8 billion worth of digital asset transactions in violation of international sanctions, with most of the funds flowing straight to Nobitex.
Iranian officials have openly advocated for using digital assets to get around sanctions, and Western-based companies—including Kraken—have been stung by regulators looking to punish entities who aid in sanctions evasion by processing transactions from Iran.
Though the regime's ability to secure financing appears to be the hack's ultimate target, the funds taken from the exchange undoubtedly belonged to many individuals inside and outside Iran who have now lost access to their assets. Indeed, posts on the topic are flooded by ostensibly Iranian X accounts begging for their funds to be returned.
Assuming Gonjeshke Darande sent the assets to wallets it had no access to; traditional wisdom would dictate that the funds are lost forever. However, there is growing recognition that individuals might be able to use the courts to force the return of their stolen assets so long as they can prove ownership. Services like Token Recovery have cropped up who make such recovery their business model.
Whether anyone with assets held on Nobitex will successfully recover their funds remains to be seen. Given how much of the stolen assets are USD stablecoins, the dollars underlying each one are still held by their issuers, notwithstanding the hackers burning the coins themselves, which may make for an interesting avenue of redress for anyone affected.
Watch: Here's how Triple Entry Accounting guarantees trust in accounting
title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
Increasing the danger: Journalist killing in Gaza sends a chilling message
Israel 's targeted killing of an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza over the weekend was noteworthy even for a conflict remarkably blood-soaked for journalists, leaving some experts to marvel that any news at all emerges from the territory. An Al Jazeera executive said Monday that it won't back down from covering what is going on there and called for news organizations to step up and recruit more journalists. A total of 184 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel in the Gaza war since its start in October 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That compares to the 18 journalists and media workers killed so far in the Russia- Ukraine war, CPJ said. Aside from rare guided tours, Israel has barred international media from covering the 22-month war in Gaza. News organizations instead rely largely on Palestinian Gaza residents and ingenuity to show the world what is happening there. Israel often questions the affiliations and biases of Palestinian journalists but doesn't permit others in. 'You simply are in awe when stories show up,' said Jane Ferguson, a veteran war correspondent and founder of Noosphere, an independent platform for journalists. She can't recall a conflict that has been more difficult for reporters to cover, and she's reported from South Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan. Correspondent Anas al-Sharif knew he was a target, and left behind a message to be delivered upon his death. He and seven other people — six of them journalists — were killed in an air strike outside of Gaza City's largest hospital complex on Sunday. Israel swiftly claimed responsibility, saying without producing evidence that al-Sharif had led a Hamas cell. It was a claim the news organization and al-Sharif had denied. The toll of journalists in Gaza has been high Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press, BBC News and Reuters are among the organizations regularly reporting from Gaza. An Aug. 7 AP dispatch vividly described the hunger faced by many in Gaza: 'A single bowl of eggplant stewed in watery tomato juice must sustain Sally Muzhed's family of six for the day. She calls it moussaka, but it's a pale echo of the fragrant, lawyered, meat-and-vegetable dish that once filled Gaza's kitchens with its aroma.' Other recent AP reports carried images and text reporting from the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza's only Catholic church, and a profile of an 18-year-old aspiring doctor now trying to survive sheltered in a tent. Journalists from The Washington Post and the Guardian recently accompanied a Jordanian relief mission and took images of Gaza from the air, despite some restrictions from Israel. The Guardian's Lorenzo Tondo wrote: 'Seen from the air, Gaza looks like the ruins of an ancient civilization, brought to light after centuries of darkness.' None of the organizations match the power and immediacy of Al Jazeera, however, in part because their correspondents have been in front of cameras. They've also paid the heaviest price: CPJ estimates that 11 journalists and media workers affiliated with AJ have been killed in the Gaza conflict, more than any other single organization. In a social media post written in June to be sent if he was killed, al-Sharif wrote that 'I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification — so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent.' In another posting on X on Aug. 10, the day that he was killed, al-Sharif wrote of the challenges covering the aftermath of one attack. He said he lost his strength and ability to express himself when he arrived at the scene. 'Body parts and blood were all around us, and corpses were scattered on top of each other,' he wrote. 'Tell me what words and phrases could help any journalist describe this horrific image. When I told you on air that it was an 'indescribable scene,' I was truly helpless in the face of this horrific sight.' Al Jazeera calls for other news organizations to come forward Salah Negm, news director at Al Jazeera English, said Monday it is very difficult to get people in to Gaza. But it is full of educated people and those with training in journalism who can help get stories out. He called on other news organizations to step up. 'We get the news from several sources on the ground in Gaza — not only journalists but also doctors, hospitals, civil servants, aid workers,' Negm said. 'A lot of people in Gaza talk to us.' Many of the journalists working in Gaza are facing the same struggles to find food, for themselves and their families, as the people they are covering. Noosphere's Ferguson said she's never before had to ask a reporter whether she had enough food for herself and her child. In an interview in May on 'Democracy Now!,' 22-year-old journalist Abubaker Abed described the difficult decision he made to leave Gaza to pursue his education in Ireland. Not only was he suffering from malnutrition, he said, but his mother was concerned that his work as a journalist would make him and his family targets. 'If I stayed, I would die,' he said. Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said she's concerned about the implications for journalists in future conflicts if what is happening in Gaza is allowed to continue without international condemnation that has real teeth. 'They're essentially admitting in public to what amounts to a war crime,' Ginsberg said, 'and they can do that because none of the other attacks on journalists have had any consequences. not in this war and not prior. It's not surprising that it can act with this level of impunity because no international government has really taken it to task.' Given all that they face, 'to me, the most remarkable thing is that journalists are continuing to cover (Gaza) at all,' she said. ___ Laurie Kellman and Danica Kirk in London, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Sam Metz in Jerusalem contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Nat Barr's tough message to Anthony Albanese after Australia's landmark decision to recognise the state of Palestine
Nat Barr has suggested Hamas may have 'partly got what they want' after Australia's landmark decision to recognise the state of Palestine. In an interview with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Sunrise host challenged him over the decision, citing the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people, and asked whether recognising Palestine could be seen as rewarding militant violence. 'Two years later, they have got partly what they want - they've got their own state?' Albanese rejected the suggestion, insisting Hamas would be 'totally opposed' to the decision and could have 'no role whatsoever' in a future Palestinian state. 'Hamas do not want this. Hamas don't want two states. Hamas wants to destroy Israel, which is why Hamas can have no role whatsoever in a future Palestinian state. 'This is about isolating Hamas… and finding a way forward for peace and security for both Palestinians and Israel.' The Prime Minister said the recognition, which will be formalised at the United Nations in September alongside countries such as the UK, France and Canada, sent a clear message to the international community that 'enough is enough' after 77 years of conflict. Albanese said the plan was for a demilitarised Palestinian state living 'side by side' with Israel in peace, adding that military action alone was not a long-term solution. Earlier in the interview, Barr had pressed Albanese on whether the recognition would make any tangible difference to people in Gaza. 'The international community is saying, enough is enough. This is a conflict that has gone on now for 77 years,' he said. 'We need to find a solution that promotes security for the state of Israel but also recognises the political aspirations of the Palestinian people for their own state. 'You can't just keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. 'One in which the states around Israel recognise its right to exist, and one which sees a demilitarised state of Palestine - allowing Palestinians to live. To continue to do the same thing is not enough.' Albanese also revealed he had spoken directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, warning that military operations without a political pathway could not deliver lasting peace. 'You can't just continue to do what he is saying, which is to continue the military operation without any political solution,' he said. 'There's been too much innocent loss of life.' The crisis in Gaza began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1200 people and taking about 250 more hostage. Israel's response has since killed more than 61,000 people, according to Gaza's health authorities, and UN sources project more than two million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Australia news live: Macron welcomes Albanese's move to recognise Palestine as Israeli president calls it a ‘grave and dangerous mistake'
Update: Date: 2025-08-11T21:11:47.000Z Title: Good morning Content: and welcome to the live blog. It's Nick Visser here to take you through the day's news. Here's what's on deck: The French president, Emmanuel Macron, welcomed Australia's decision to recognise a Palestinian state. Macron wrote on social media Anthony Albanese's announcement joined 'the momentum we created in New York, which has already been supported by the United Kingdom, Canada, Portugal, and others'. Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, maintained Australia's decision would only reward Hamas and in no way help the Palestinian people. Herzog said 'these declarations, by Australia and other countries, are a reward for terror, a prize for the enemies of freedom, liberty, and democracy. This is a grave and dangerous mistake'. It's RBA day for mortgage holders and savers. The Reserve Bank is set to hand down its decision on interest rates around 2.30pm Sydney time. Let's get to it.
