Iranian group 'hacked Lapid, Netanyahu' in data attack affecting over 9 million Israelis

A group of Iranian hackers said they have hacked Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and former premier Benjamin Netanyahu and seized the personal data of millions of Israelis.

The group, which goes by the name of 'war_dark' said it gained access to a database containing the details of about 9.5 million residents of Israel, including Lapid and Netanyahu, according to the Israeli news site Walla.

They also allegedly temporarily took down Israeli public news broadcaster Kan.

The hackers released some of the details from 8,300 records including names, identity cards, dates of birth, voting records and other information.

It comes as Iran was slapped with new sanctions by the US after it allegedly hacked data from Albania.

Last week, Albania broke diplomatic ties with Iran over the attack on July 15. The attack attempted to paralyze public services and access data and communications in government systems.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama accused Iran of directing a cyberattack against Albanian institutions.

Days later, the US announced sanctions on Iran's ministry of intelligence and security and its minister Esmail Khatib in response to the attack on its NATO ally.

"Iran's cyber attack against Albania disregards norms of responsible peacetime state behavior in cyberspace, which includes a norm on refraining from damaging critical infrastructure that provides services to the public," said Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson.