Flirt with Iranian hackers cost defense minister’s cleaner his freedom

Updated on: 07 September 2022

Vilius Petkauskas
Deputy Editor

Flirt with Iranian hackers cost defense minister’s cleaner his freedom

An Israeli citizen who worked in the home of Israel Defense Minister Benny Gantz was sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to sell Iranian hackers sensitive information.

A 38-year-old Omri Goren was sentenced to prison for attempting to pass information to an enemy, Israel’s Justice Ministry reported. Goren himself tried to contact Black Shadow, a hacker group affiliated with the Iranian government.

The culprit agreed to a plea deal, confessing he attempted to hand Iranian information. However, the ministry said Goren did not obtain any secret information or pass any information to Black Shadow hackers.

Interestingly enough, hackers did not approach Goren, as he is said to have tried to offer his services on his initiative. The court noted that he offered to plant spyware on Gantz’s home computer, giving Iranians full access to whatever information the minister held there.

Interestingly enough, Goran had an extensive criminal record before starting his tenure at the minister’s home. The former cleaner has been convicted of bank robbery in the past and served multiple prison terms for other offenses.

Israeli media reports that Goran’s lawyer tried his best not to attach a ‘spying’ label to the case, saying that Goran was indebted and was looking for a loophole to get out of debt.

Black Shadow is believed to be an Iranian state-sponsored group. The group has repeatedly targeted organizations in Israel in the past.