Sweden’s safety service Sapo has accused Iranian intelligence of hacking right into a textual content messaging service to ship 15,000 messages to Swedes.
Sapo mentioned the info breach in summer season final 12 months concerned SMS messages calling for “revenge in opposition to Quran-burners”, after a number of anti-Islam activists set fireplace to copies of the Islamic holy e book.
A preliminary investigation led by prosecutors discovered {that a} cyber group referred to as Anzu performing for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), sought to create division in society and paint Sweden as an Islamophobic nation.
Though Sweden’s authorities condemned the Quran-burnings and police tried to ban them, they had been allowed by the courts below freedom of expression legal guidelines.
The incidents led to outrage in a number of Muslim-majority international locations, and Sweden’s embassy in Iraq was set alight by protesters.
Final month, Swedish prosecutors charged an Iraqi activist and an confederate with incitement in opposition to an ethnic group in reference to the book-burnings. Each males deny wrongdoing.
The Anzu group are mentioned to have hacked right into a Swedish firm’s SMS-service and brought over passwords, usernames and different instruments on the finish of July 2023, earlier than sending a message to non-public people on 1 August that “those that insulted the Quran should be punished for his or her work”.
Fredrik Hallstrom of Sapo advised the Dagens Nyheter web site that a variety of individuals concerned within the operation had been linked to the Revolutionary Guards and that the textual content messages had partially succeeded in including additional gasoline to the risk in opposition to Sweden.
Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist mentioned that investigators had succeeded in figuring out the Iranian hackers’ identities, however that there was no means they could possibly be extradited and their preliminary inquiry had been shelved.
The safety service warned that overseas powers similar to Iran had been seizing on alternatives to create division and bolster their very own regimes.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer mentioned in a press release that it was very severe {that a} state actor similar to Iran was aiming to “destabilise Sweden or enhance polarisation in our nation”.
This isn’t the primary time that Sweden’s safety service has accused Iran’s authorities of finishing up hostile acts on its territory.
Final Could Sapo mentioned Tehran had used legal networks in Sweden to hold out violent acts in opposition to different states, teams or people in Sweden that Iran thought-about a risk.
It recognized Iran, alongside Russia and China, as posing the greatest security threats to Sweden.
