Iranian websites use fake Israeli contact data to lure spies, researchers claim
January 25, 2022 Leave a comment
A NUMBER OF WEBSITES sponsored through Google Ads, which seek to hire Iran and Hezbollah experts for “research and consultancies” in Israel, are part of an Iranian counterintelligence program, according to observers. The investigative news website Daily Beast said on Monday it discovered at least 16 such websites, all of which appear to employ the same language, visuals, as well as telephone numbers with Israeli area codes.
The websites’ stated purpose is to employ individuals with inside knowledge of Iranian intelligence and security, as well as individuals with a background in Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The prospective employers claim to be Israeli “consultancy” firms, with names such as “VIP Human Solutions”. The latter describes itself as a “VIP center for recruitment of the most distinguished in the military and security services of Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon”, according to the Daily Beast.
The websites feature Israeli flag visuals, and claim to be associated with recognizable think-tanks and media organizations, including the Gatestone Institute, the Begin-Sadat Center, the Jerusalem Post and Business Insider. However, these purported connections appear to be fictitious and to be designed to give those websites an air of legitimacy. In reality they appear to be hosted by an obscure Bulgarian web hosting company. At times they disappear, but then reappear under a different title and domain name. The oldest among them has been active for just over four years.
The Daily Beast cites a number of Iran observers, as well as intelligence insiders in the United States and elsewhere, who claim that the websites are part of a sting operation by Iranian counterintelligence. They share a number of “behavioral similarities” to prior phishing campaigns perpetrated by hacker groups with documented links to Iranian intelligence agencies, according to the Daily Beast. The purpose of the websites is to lure unsuspecting Iranian and Lebanese nationals who aspire to provide information to Israel in exchange for money, according to the report.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 25 January 2022 | Permalink
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS seeking to stop the nation’s public broadcaster from airing a story that would allegedly reveal the identity of a British intelligence officer working abroad. The news 
MOST CASES OF THE so-called “Havana syndrome”, a mysterious medical condition affecting mostly American government officials abroad, are unlikely to have been caused by a directed energy weapon or other device constructed by a foreign adversary, according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The condition is believed to have afflicted around 1,000 American and Canadian diplomats around the world in recent years, and many claim it is the result of a mystery weapon built by Russia or other adversaries of the United States.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN THE Chinese province of Jiangsu have publicly rewarded two fishing crews for finding and turning in to security authorities a number of “suspicious” underwater devices. In a leading article on its website, China’s state-owned Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday that other fishing crews should come forward upon finding similar devices, to prove their patriotism and claim financial rewards from the state.
SWEDEN’S DOMESTIC SECURITY AGENCY said it had taken over from the police an investigation into sightings of unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, at three nuclear power plants. On Monday, the Swedish Security Service, known by its Swedish acronym, SAPO, confirmed earlier reports that a large-size drone had been 
AUTHORITIES IN ISRAEL CLAIM they busted a ring of spies for Iran, which was composed solely of middle-aged Jewish women. The Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, said on Thursday that it had arrested four Jewish women, all of them Iranian-born Israeli citizens. The four women were charged with espionage against the state of Israel. The Shin Bet described the case as “serious” and as part of a broader plan by Iran to build a sophisticated espionage network inside the Jewish state.
IN A CASE THAT observers have described as “unprecedented”, the recently dismissed director of Denmark’s external intelligence agency has been charged with committing acts of treason against the state. Lars Findsen directed the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (FE, or DDIS in English) from 2015 until his sudden dismissal in 2020. Prior to that, he directed the DDIS’ domestic counterpart, namely the Danish Security and Intelligence Service, or DSIS. As intelNews 
A FEW MONTHS AFTER France’s establishment of an agency to combat foreign disinformation, Sweden has announced the creation of a new government authority, whose mission is to defend against disinformation by foreign actors. Based in Karlstad, a city 200 miles west of Stockholm, the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency (PDA) was formally established on January 1. Its 
IN A SIGN OF WIDENING disagreements within the government of Kazakhstan, the once supremely powerful head of the country’s internal intelligence agency has been fired. He was subsequently arrested by his own agency for alleged treasonable acts. Karim Masimov (or Massimov) served twice as prime minister of Kazakhstan under his political mentor, former President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev, who is traditionally referred to as the “father of the nation” kept Masimov in his inner circle of confidants throughout his nearly 30-year rule.
A RESIDENT OF NEW York has been charged by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation with engaging in espionage operations on behalf of the government of Egypt, according to court documents unsealed on Thursday. The FBI claims that the spy “tracked and obtained information regarding political opponents” of Egypt’s ultra-authoritarian president, retired General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. El-Sisi took power in Egypt in a military coup d’etat in 2013, which was followed by heavily staged election in 2014. With most of the opposition refusing to participate, the election resulted in a victory for the Egyptian strongman with 97% of the vote.
ISRAEL’S PRIMARY EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE agency, the Mossad, was likely behind a series of mysterious bombings in 1981, which targeted German and Swiss engineering firms believed to be aiding the Pakistani nuclear program, according to new exposé by a leading Swiss newspaper. Several bomb attacks targeted a number of engineering firms in Switzerland and what was then West Germany in 1981. Alongside these attacks, there were threatening telephone calls that targeted West German and Swiss engineers.
DOCUMENTS RELEASED LAST WEEK by the National Archives of Ireland show the extraordinary support given by the government of Libya to Irish republican separatists in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s. The previously classified documents were released last Tuesday by Ireland’s National Archives, which is the country’s official repository of state records. According to reports, the 
CENTRAL FIGURES OF POLAND’S opposition coalition, which narrowly lost the 2019 parliamentary election, had their cell phones hacked with a surveillance software used by the country’s spy services, according to a new report. A major target of the hacks was Krzysztof Brejza, a member of the lower chamber of the Polish parliament and campaign director of the Civic Coalition, a centrist-liberal alliance. In the parliamentary election of 2019, the Civic Coalition challenged the all-powerful Law and Justice Party (PiS), which has ruled Poland for much of the past decade.
A UNITED STATES ARMY veteran and government informant, who infiltrated the white supremacist organization known as the Ku Klux Klan for over a decade, has spoken publicly about his work for the first time. The informant’s birth name is Joseph Moore, but in 2018 he changed it in order to evade detection by KKK members who might be tempted to track him down. Today the 50-year-old former Army sniper lives with his wife and four children somewhere in Florida, 
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British state uses rare ‘breach of confidence’ clause to stop spy’s media exposure
January 27, 2022 by Joseph Fitsanakis Leave a comment
As intelNews reported on January 24, British newspaper The Telegraph revealed that Britain’s attorney general was seeking an injunction against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The purpose of the injunction was to stop the BBC from airing a story that would “allegedly identify […] a spy working overseas”. No information has emerged about the details of the case. On Wednesday, however, a High Court of Justice judge in London heard from lawyers representing the two sides in the dispute. According to The Telegraph, a lawyer representing the government argued before Justice (Martin) Chamberlain that the BBC’s attempt to air the news story involved “matters of national security and breach of confidence”.
Lawyers for the BBC, however, asked the judge to oppose the injunction sought by the attorney general, and asked for future hearings on the case to take place in public, rather than behind closed doors. They also censured the efforts by the government’s lawyers, describing them as “a departure from the open justice principle”. Justice Chamberlain concluded the hearing by saying that he was personally committed to the case being heard in public to the maximum extent possible. He also warned the government’s lawyers that he would not order to the case to be moved behind closed doors unless “secrecy is compellingly justified” by the constraints of national security. An interim hearing has been scheduled for March 1 and 2 in London.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 27 January 2022 | Permalink
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