IRGC hacked a Swedish SMS service in response to Quran burning, authorities say | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Swedish Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office said the Iranian hacking unit pushed 15,000 texts after breaching an unnamed telecom firm.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/iran-hack-sweden-quran-burning-revenge-irgc\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IRGC hacked a Swedish SMS service in response to Quran burning, authorities say\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Swedish Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office said the Iranian hacking unit pushed 15,000 texts after breaching an unnamed telecom firm.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/iran-hack-sweden-quran-burning-revenge-irgc\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" 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class=\"stickybar__details\" readability=\"4.952380952381\">\n<div class=\"stickybar__info js-sticky-bar-content\" readability=\"32\">\n<p>Voting is open for the 2024 CyberScoop 50 awards! <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <a class=\"stickybar__link button button-tertiary\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyberscoop50\/vote\/\">Click here!<\/a> <\/div>\n<p> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.946611909651\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"31.456692913386\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/threats\/cybercrime\/\"> <span>Cybercrime<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The Swedish Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office said the Iranian hacking unit pushed 15,000 texts after breaching an unnamed telecom firm. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> People take part in an anti-Sweden demonstration in Lahore on July 9, 2023, as they protest against the burning of the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque that outraged Muslims around the world. (Photo by ARIF ALI\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"25.233706932337\"><body readability=\"50.570527264534\"><\/p>\n<p>A hacking unit working with the Iranian government penetrated a Swedish telecommunications firm in August 2023 and pushed 15,000 text messages calling for revenge against people who burned the Quran, Swedish authorities said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Using a persona they dubbed \u201cAnzu Team,\u201d hackers working with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) penetrated an unnamed Swedish company that operated a \u201cmajor\u201d SMS service and used the access to push the text messages, the Swedish Public Prosecutor\u2019s office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aklagare.se\/nyheter-press\/pressmeddelanden\/2024\/september\/grovt-dataintrang-utfort-av-iran\/\">said in a statement<\/a>, according to a machine translation.<\/p>\n<p>Fredrik Hallstr\u00f6m, operational manager of the Swedish federal police, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sakerhetspolisen.se\/ovriga-sidor\/nyheter\/nyheter\/2024-09-24-dataintrang-bakom-paverkanskampanj.html\">said in a statement<\/a> that the goal of the Iranian operation was \u201cto paint the image of Sweden as an Islamaphobic country and create division in society,\u201d according to a machine translation. \u201cThe security police know that foreign powers like Iran act on opportunities that arise to create division and strengthen their own regime. By exploiting vulnerabilities, cyber threat actors can gain access to systems that are then exploited at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The hack and subsequent influence operation came weeks after two men tore pages out of the Quran and burned them outside of a mosque in Stockholm, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/29\/world\/middleeast\/quran-burning-stockholm-sweden.html\">New York Times reported<\/a> at the time. The burning occurred during the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha, and caused uproar across the Muslim world, the Times reported. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A request for comment sent to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran was not immediately returned Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>A Telegram channel created July 31, 2023, under the name \u201cAnzuTeam\u201d included links to a website, a dark web website, and a Facebook account. The admin message posted to the chat said \u201cwe will punish the insulters of holy books and the governments that support them.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>An image posted Aug. 1, 2023, depicted two men on fire alongside an image of a map of Europe, showing Sweden\u2019s borders on fire as well. The next day a message posted to the channel offered $50,000 rewards for information on two men the group blamed for the incident, and posted screenshots claiming successful distributed denial-of-service attacks on various Swedish government websites.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.4206349206349\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"AJ Vicens\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by AJ Vicens<\/h4>\n<p> AJ covers nation-state threats and cybercrime. He was previously a reporter at Mother Jones. 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{"id":5473,"date":"2024-09-25T14:58:47","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T19:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=81915"},"modified":"2024-09-25T14:58:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T19:58:47","slug":"irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/09\/25\/irgc-hacked-a-swedish-sms-service-in-response-to-quran-burning-authorities-say\/","title":{"rendered":"IRGC hacked a Swedish SMS service in response to Quran burning, authorities say"},"content":{"rendered":"