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When the U.S. and Israel launched their initial strikes on Iran at the end of February, one of the reported targets was the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).

Per reports, at least two Iranians accused of running cyber operations against Western entities were killed in the strikes. One was Mohammad Mehdi Farhadi Ramin, who the Justice Department charged in 2020 with hacking into aerospace and defense companies in America and had been sought by U.S. authorities since then.

The other was Seyed Yahya Hosseiny Panjaki, a deputy minister of intelligence for Israeli affairs at MOIS who is on the FBI Most Wanted list. Cybersecurity sources tell Forbes Panjaki was in charge of the MOIS unit that controlled hacking groups like Handala, long known as a pro-Iranian crew that has successfully targeted Israeli politicians and Western businesses. According to the FBI, Panaki was linked to terror plots and cyberattacks organized by MOIS and and Iran's Islamic........

© Forbes