Iran-linked hackers breach Los Angeles transit authority

A cyberattack that disrupted the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in March has been attributed to hackers linked to the Iranian government, according to new research from a cybersecurity firm. The breach forced the transit agency to proactively limit access to internal administrative systems after its security team detected unauthorized activity in mid-March.

The Israeli firm Gambit Security stated in a report published Tuesday that a group calling itself Ababil of Minab, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is connected to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security. The group’s name references a U.S. airstrike on a school in the Iranian city of Minab that killed more than 175 people, mostly children and teachers. Gambit’s researchers said their conclusion is based on forensic evidence tying the group’s infrastructure and tools to previous cyber campaigns attributed to Iranian intelligence by Israeli officials.

The hackers claimed to have exfiltrated data and destroyed systems, including databases, virtual machines, and storage volumes. Gambit reported that at least 700 gigabytes of emails, backups, and other files from the transit authority...