Executive Summary
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) has likely broadened the use of its “Handala” brand to encompass MOIS’s external physical and influence operations targeting US and Israeli interests. Since the beginning of the Iran War, Insikt Group has observed significant overlaps in the online activities of Handala Hack Team, a newly created, Handala-branded persona referring to itself as the “Handala Popular Resistance Front” (HPRF), and three influence operations networks previously identified by Insikt Group. Based on frequent amplification and cross-posting of claims and content between Handala Hack Team and these four additional entities, we now attribute these groups to MOIS, with varying degrees of confidence.
The nexus between these personas and MOIS, as well as their multidomain tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and targeting, likely reflects how MOIS’s external operations have shifted in response to the Iran War. Notably, the HPRF and the three influence operations networks all almost certainly share a modus operandi: their administrators solicit individuals to conduct physical attacks and espionage targeting US and Israeli entities, on behalf of Iranian intelligence agencies, for a financial reward. By encompassing these groups under the Handala brand, MOIS likely seeks to take advantage of Handala’s global recognition to amplify its solicitation efforts.
MOIS’s likely coordination of distinct cyber, physical, and influence personas under a single brand very likely amplifies physical and cyber threats to targeted individuals and facilities. Handala-linked physical threat actors could almost certainly leverage the recognition of the brand’s hacktivist personas to recruit individuals to conduct targeted violent attacks, espionage, sabotage, or other physical threat activities. Shared resources, intelligence, and coordination efforts from a centralized source likely increase the impact of an attack. This very likely entails heightened risks for US and Israeli law enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies and their personnel, in addition to energy, transportation, and research organizations operating in the region.
