Tehran/Washington, DC: A team of hackers, suspected to be linked to Iran, has reportedly breached a cybersecurity shield of the US defence forces and leaked sensitive personal data of thousands of American Marines deployed in West Asia.
This has triggered alarm within US security agencies, regarding the safety of these personnel and their families. An investigation has been launched by the Department of Defense.
While a report by The Wall Street Journal said that the breach involved personal information of more than 2,000 Marines, Arab news outlet Shafaq.com placed the number at 2,379 and identified the group behind the attack as “Handala,” also referred to as “Hanzala.”
To highlight their superior “surveillance capabilities”, the hackers are said to have published names and personal details of US Marines on a Telegram channel.
The US troops in the region are allegedly receiving threat messages via WhatsApp, warning that they are being monitored and could be targeted, Shafaq.com reported.
It possesses further sensitive information, the group has claimed, including family details, home addresses, daily routines and movement patterns of American personnel. More data could be released in subsequent disclosures, it warned.
This breach has raised serious concerns within the US defense establishment, particularly given the operational risks associated with exposing troop identities and movements, Moneycontrol has reported.
According to officials, various agencies have begun assessing the scale of the leak and the potential impact on personnel safety. Investigations are expected to focus on how the data was accessed and whether additional systems may have been compromised.
This cyberattack comes at a time when talks between the US and Iran have reached a stalemate.
“Iran has just informed us that they are in a ‘State of Collapse.’ They want us to ‘Open the Hormuz Strait,’ as soon as possible,” Trump wrote on Truth Social recently.
“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a non-nuclear deal. They better get smart soon,” he wrote in another post.
The breach highlights how cyber operations are increasingly becoming a key front in geopolitical conflicts. Cyberattacks targeting personnel data, infrastructure and communications are emerging as a parallel battlefield, even as diplomatic and military tensions continue,
The breach would mark a significant escalation, demonstrating the potential for non-state or state-linked actors to directly target military personnel beyond traditional combat zones, security analysts said.
Tehran had, a few weeks ago, released details about the commanding officer and executive officer of an US Navy warship from which the missiles that hit a girls’ school in Iran were allegedly launched.
After the fresh breach, authorities are likely to tighten cybersecurity protocols and review vulnerabilities.
