Published 24 September 2024 at 11.47
Domestic. Iran's security service has carried out a special operation against targets in Sweden. Through a serious data breach, hackers took over a Swedish SMS service and sent 15,000 messages calling for revenge against Koran-burners. According to prosecutors, the goal was to create division in Swedish society. This is shown by a Swedish preliminary investigation which has now been closed.
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The security police in Sweden, led by prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist at the National Security Unit, conducted a preliminary investigation which was aimed at investigating who or who committed the data breach and for what purpose.
On August 1, 2023, it was noticed in the Swedish media that a large number of people in Sweden had received text messages calling for revenge against Koran burners. A group calling itself the Anzu team was the sender of the messages.
— The preliminary investigation shows that it was the Iranian state via the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, that carried out a data breach at a Swedish company that runs a major SMS -service. Through the investigation, we have been able to establish the identities of the Iranian hackers who carried out the serious data breach, says senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist.
According to the prosecutor, the purpose of the influence operation was to influence public opinion in Sweden.
— The aim was to further tighten the situation and increase the conflict that prevailed between different groups in society. Because the actors are acting for a foreign power, in this case Iran, we make the assessment that the conditions for prosecution abroad or extradition to Sweden are lacking for the persons suspected of being behind the breach, says Mats Ljungqvist.
That the preliminary investigation is closed doesn't mean the suspected hackers are completely written off. As long as the crime is not time-barred, prosecutors can reopen the preliminary investigation.