Justice Department Disrupts Iranian Cyber Enabled Psychological Operations

The Justice Department announced the seizure of four domains as part of an ongoing effort to disrupt hacking and transnational repression schemes conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The affidavit supporting the seizure warrant can be found here. The seized domains – Justicehomeland[.]org, Handala-Hack[.]to, Karmabelow80[.]org, and Handala-Redwanted[.]to – were used by the MOIS in furtherance of attempted psychological operations targeting adversaries of the regime by claiming credit for hacking activity, posting sensitive data stolen during such hacks, and calling for the killing of journalists, regime dissidents, and Israeli persons. For example, the MOIS used the Handala-hack[.]to domain to claim credit for a March 2026 destructive malware attack against a U.S.-based multinational medical technologies firm.

“Terrorist propaganda online can incite real-world violence — thanks to our National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, this network of Iranian-backed sites will no longer broadcast anti-American hate,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Our cyber assets will remain ever-vigilant to root out and deactivate networks that pose a threat to American citizens.”

“Iran thought they could hide behind fake websites and keyboard threats to terrorize Americans and silence dissidents,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “We took down four of their operation’s pillars and we’re not done. This FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyberattacks and will bring the full force of American law enforcement down on them.”

Read more: Department of Justice