For more than several decades, the foreign sabotage operations of the Islamic Republic have been closely associated with the Ministry of Intelligence; from threatening physical elimination and assassination of Iranians and foreign citizens to cyber attacks against various targets.
Recently, an exclusive report about one of the key figures in the Ministry of Intelligence was published by Iran International TV, which in a sense unveiled the individual behind the ministry's overseas assassinations. "Seyed Yahya Hosseini Panjaki," using the alias "Seyed Yahya Hamidi," is the Deputy of Internal Security at the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence and head of the Israel desk. He is one of the most important officials in this ministry, playing a key role in planning the Islamic Republic's foreign sabotage operations. https://www.iranintl.com/en/202407075015
The important point here is that the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence only appears to be a complex and professional organization on the surface. Just as the details and face of the individual behind this ministry's sabotage operations leaked out without their knowledge, they have also had major slip-ups in other areas, and continue to do so! It is generally said that Iran's intelligence system is riddled with blunders.
New evidence shows that under Yahya's internal security division operates a cyber group known as Banished Kitten (AKA Storm-0842 or Dune) So essentially , it is a cyber group working for the CT division in MOIS, which is a designated terror body in the EU.
Banished kitten activities have often been so clumsy that significant details of their activities have leaked out. For example, their work against Albanian government bodies in attempt to reach MEK, or forging a website in the name of the University of Munich inviting individuals to a fictitious 2024 Nuclear Conference using the address nuclear2024[.]com.
'Banished Kitten' use several advertising platforms and profiles -predominantly Telegram and websites to share the information they gain from some of their attacks.
These platforms use a vague identity attempting to present itself using various cover stories or fronts to conceal their identity and affiliation.
According to an analysis of several security reports published on the group , these are several advertising platforms created and run by the cyber group directed by the CT division:
- A. Handala hack
- B. Karma below
- C. Homeland justice
Poor and amateurish performance, leaving behind digital footprints and evidence, makes the exposure of details about the groups activities including the identities of individuals under Seyed Yahya Hosseini Panjaki's command quite easy to obtain.
Over the past few years, the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence, especially the Internal Security Deputy section, has been so involved in cyber attacks against the Albanian government, the MEK, and other European countries that it has neglected internal organizational threats.
This is the story of a disgraceful section of an infamous ministry that carries the name "Internal Security" but whose mission is to create insecurity outside of Iran.
The Internal Security Deputy of the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence has been officially recognized as a terrorist organization by the European Union since 2019 due to repeated sabotage against various countries. Now, the activity of their foolish kittens has caused even more international embarrassment and are therefore expected to have sanctions imposed on them too.
