Iran to prosecute hackers who leaked Telegram users’ data: Deputy minister
Iranian authorities say they are lodging a complaint against those responsible for leaking online the private data of 42 million users of the instant messaging application Telegram.
Amir Nazemi, head of the Information Technology Organization of Iran and a deputy telecoms minister, said on Tuesday that the ministry had identified the hacking group behind the massive leak, adding that they will be referred to judiciary officials for prosecution.
Nazemi said the website behind the leak, known as Shekar (translated as hunting system) had been identified through the servers of a major internet service provider in Iran which hosted the website.
“The report will be referred to the prosecutor office for legal proceedings,” said the official.
Telegram has been banned in Iran since 2018 when authorities said the messaging app was being increasingly used by terrorist groups and others to foment unrest in the country.
Many have continued to use the third-party versions of the program which are allowed under the open-source nature of the application.
Telegram has said in a statement that the massive leaks of the private data of 42 million Iranian users, which included user account IDS, usernames, phone numbers, hashes and secret keys, had taken place through two of the third party versions that have been frequently used in Iran over the past years.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly warned the users not to trust the so-called forks of Telegram, saying private data might be compromised.
The leaked data was removed from the search engine it was originally posted to a week ago after a security expert reported them for a first time.
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