SMS terror in Sweden

Iranian hackers wanted revenge on “Koran abusers”

According to Swedish reports, Iran reacted to the burning of the Koran in the summer of 2023 with a hacking operation. Iranian hackers had cracked a major text messaging service of a Swedish company and sent around 15,000 messages calling for revenge against "Koran abusers".

This was announced by the Swedish public prosecutor's office. The aim of the campaign was to influence public opinion in Sweden and create division in Swedish society, explained public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist. Iran did not initially respond to the accusations.

Koran burnings at an inopportune time
Sweden experienced several Koran burnings in the summer of 2023, which triggered violent protests in a number of countries and diplomatic anger. For the Scandinavian EU country, this came at an absolutely inopportune time: at the time, the government in Stockholm was still struggling to get Turkey and Hungary to agree to Sweden joining NATO. The burning of the Holy Scriptures of Islam contributed to the Turkish leadership further blocking Sweden's admission to the defense alliance at the time.

At the time, thousands of mobile phone customers in Sweden had received text messages calling for revenge against the Koran burners. Under Ljungqvist's leadership, the Swedish intelligence service Säpo then began an investigation to determine who was behind the intrusion into the company's data systems and the purpose of the action. The result: the Iranian state had carried out the hacking operation via the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), explained Ljungqvist. The identity of the hackers had been established and the investigation had been closed.

As the actors behind the crime were acting on behalf of a foreign power, the investigator does not believe that they can be prosecuted. Ljungqvist said that the investigation could be reopened as long as the statute of limitations had not expired.