Black Reward Hackers Steal Trove of Emails from Iran's Atomic Energy Agency

Black Reward Hackers Steal Trove of Emails from Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency

A group of anti-Iranian government hackers have allegedly targeted Iran Atomic Energy Organization’s subsidiary’s network and managed to access its email server.

The hacking group identified as Black Reward has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Iranian nuclear agency’s subsidiary, the Atomic Energy Production and Development Company located in Bushehr.

The group claims they launched this attack to demand the release of political prisoners arrested during the countrywide protests.

On the other hand, the agency has acknowledged that its email server was targeted by hackers and blamed a foreign country for this attack but didn’t name the country.

Black Reward Hackers Steal 50GB of Emails from Iran's Atomic Energy Agency

“These illegal efforts out of desperation are aimed at attracting public attention,” the agency stated.

Furthermore, the agency downplayed the severity of the incident, claiming that the stolen data included emails containing “normal and daily exchanges” and technical content.

However, hackers claim to have obtained 50GB of internal emails, construction plans, and contact details of the Iranian government’s Russian-backed nuclear power plant. The group also leaked some of the data on their Telegram channel. Yet, it is unclear whether the stolen data contained confidential data.

"Black Reward" Hackers Steal Emails from Iran's Atomic Energy Agency — Screenshots leaked by hackers on their Telegram group

Additionally, Black Reward gave a 24-hour deadline to the government on their Twitter handle on Friday for exposing documents on the country’s nuclear program if all “political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and people arrested in the recent protests.” aren’t released.

“Unlike Westerners, we do not flirt with criminal mullahs,” Black Reward wrote.

On Saturday, the group released some data on social media, which included a brief clip from a nuclear site in Iran and documents containing payslips, agreements, and maps.

Background Information

According to the agency’s statement on Sunday, as reported by Reuters, in this “foreign-backed attack,” the attackers’ agenda seems to be an attempt to escalate tension amidst Mahsa Amini’s death and subsequent protests that have gripped Iran for weeks.

For your information, the Iranian government is dealing with public demonstrations after the suspicious death of a 22-year-old female, Mahsa Amini. The country’s moral police detained her for allegedly violating Iran’s dress code for women.

After her death, Iran has seen an unprecedented increase in large-scale cyber attacks on its critical government infrastructure. For instance, Anonymous hackers have launched OpIran in support of protestors, while hackers from different backgrounds are using Telegram and dark web platforms to teach Iranians how to evade government censorship, how to use VPN, and even carry out cyberattacks against the country’s sensitive targets.