Iranian hackers have been blamed for a breach of Los Angeles’ transportation system that took weeks to recover

Security researchers say: March breach The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit System (LACMTA) was the work of Iranian-backed hackers. An Israeli startup called Gambit Security He said in a report on Tuesday that the hackers were working for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and State Security (MOIS).

Reuters Written for the first time About the maneuver report.

A hacking group calling itself Ababil Minab Claim responsibility Because of the previous hack, saying they stole data and then deleted it from LACMTA’s systems. The group name is a reference to US air strike on an Iranian school In the city of Minab, more than 175 people were killed, most of them children.

“They are not a new, independent crew of hacktivists as they claim,” Gambit said.

Ababil Minab did not respond to a request for comment when contacted by TechCrunch.

Gambit said its claims are based on forensic evidence linking the group to a previous Iran-linked campaign, as well as activity attributed to the Intelligence Ministry by Israel’s National Cyber ​​Directorate. Gambit said it investigated other attacks against companies in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

If Gambit’s assessment is correct, Ababil Minab would be the latest in a series of fake hacking groups working for the Iranian government. The most recent example is And you will go farwhich earlier this year Hacking of the American medical technology giant StrykerScan thousands of company systems and employee devices.

After the Stryker hack, The FBI seized two of Hanzala’s websitesand The US Department of Justice accused the Iranian government For being behind the hacktivist group and its attacks.

Iran-linked hackers increased their activities and alleged intrusions after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran earlier this year. In April, a coalition of US agencies It warned that Iranian hackers were targeting American critical infrastructure.