A personal house cleaner for Israel’s defense minister was reportedly detained for allegedly leaking photos and personal data to an Iranian hacker group.
Israel’s internal security service arrested the personal cleaner, 37-year-old Omri Goren Gorochovsky, on Nov. 4 after reports of a security breach surfaced in Israeli media, The Record reported Friday.
Goren, who was working for Defense Minister Benny Gantz, reportedly reached out to an Iranian hacker group, “Black Shadow,” after seeing articles in October about previous breaches conducted by the group, according to The Record.
A cleaner who worked for Israel’s defense minister was charged with spying on his boss for Iran https://t.co/ceCAR8SCbl
— Bloomberg (@business) November 18, 2021
The cleaner used a fake name to reach out to the group via the encrypted-chat application Telegram and posted photos to prove his identity, The Record reported. It included photos of the minister’s computers, property tax payment documents, and a case with an IP address among other photos.
Goren had also allegedly offered to install malware on Gantz’s computer for the group to gain access. (RELATED: Foreign Hackers Stole Information From Defense Contractors, Researchers Say)
Photos from the Minister’s residence appeared on a separate website titled, “Moses Staff.” “We will strike you while you never would have imagined,” the website sated, according to The Record.
Goren then deleted the photos from his phone, as well as his Telegram correspondence, to avoid being detained, according to The Record. He was detained days later during an investigation into the breach and was found to have a criminal background, including prior convictions for burglary and bank robbery.
Last October, Iranian hackers from the “Phosphorus” group breached approximately 100 “high-profile” attendees’ accounts during the Munich Security Conference and the Think 20 Summit in Saudi Arabia in an effort to collect intelligence on security talks.