Dozens of Israeli actors have been targeted in a sophisticated phishing attack allegedly conducted by Iranian hackers, with victims' identity documents collected during the operation, Rokna reported, citing Times of Israel on September 12.

Iranian hacker groups have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years as the country continues to battle its enemies through the internet, with groups including Elfin, Helix Kitten and Chrysene growing in prominence.

The Israeli newspaper reported that the actors received emails claiming to be from a famous director seeking talent for a new film, according to Israel’s National Cyber Directorate.

The messages requested performers submit audition videos alongside personal documents, including identity cards, passports and addresses.

According to a statement from the authority, dozens of actors provided the requested documentation before receiving threatening responses that Israeli authorities attributed to Iran.

Israeli authorities advised affected actors to replace their identity documents and report the incident to government institutions.

The phishing operation used the pretext of film casting to harvest personal information from Israeli entertainment industry figures, with the collected data potentially used for further cyber operations or identity theft.

Since June 2025, Israel has been targeted by daily distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, with up to 40 incidents a day during military escalations likely from Iran.

In September 2025, Turkish hackers obtained and leaked Defence Minister Israel Katz’s personal mobile number and even placed a live video call to him, followed by harassment campaigns, Roya News reported.

Iran comes under regular cyber-attacks from Western hackers and Israel’s intelligence service, with the most famous hack.

Bank Mellat's electronic banking services, including ATMs, card payment terminals, and Internet banking, faced several hours of disruption on November 17, leaving many cardholders and shops unable to process payments at various locations.

Several major cyberattacks have targeted Iran in the past two decades, often with significant physical, financial, or political impact.

The most famous hack occurred in 2010 when Israel hacked Iran’s nuclear power plant with the Stuxnet virus, effectively taking the nuclear site offline.