A cleaner employed by Defense Minister Benny Gantz at his personal was arrested on suspicion of attempting to contact Iran-linked hackers in order to provide them with sensitive information on the security chief, officials said today, Ynet reports.
According to the Shin Bet and State Attorney’s Office and charges filed to the Lod District Court, 37-year-old Omri Goren Gorochovsky offered the Black Shadow hacker group to install a virus into Gantz’s personal computer in exchange for monetary compensation. Goren allegedly contacted the group after reports in Israeli media last month revealed Black Shadow’s hacking attempts on the Israeli government and private targets.
After allegedly making contact with a member of Black Shadow via Telegram under a false identity, Goren took pictures inside Gantz’s home. Among the items photographed were the defense minister’s work desk, computers, phone, personal tablet, a box imprinted with IDF-related numerals, a router and its IP address and his property tax receipts.
A search of his cell phone yielded findings that supported his confession, such as searches he made on the internet around about the time he contacted Black Shadow, translation he made from Hebrew to English using Google Translate and the restoration of the photos he took at Gantz’s home. In its announcement, the Shin Bet said that while the suspect posed a potential danger to national security, he “was not exposed to classified material and subsequently none was passed on from him to the elements with whom he made contact”.
He has a rich criminal record that includes five convictions and 14 charges between 2002-2013, including two bank robberies, burglary, theft and more. He also was sentenced to four prison terms, the last of which for robbery, was for four years. Read more at Ynet.
{Matzav.com Israel}
I would imagine this incident will force Gantz to “clean house” and rid himself of any crooked associates.
The obvious question is how did this fellow with a rich criminal record get the job in the first place? Was it compassion? Was it a matter of, “Let’s give the poor crook an upteenth chance to turn his crookedness around?
What a low-life, sleazy, crooked person!! Maybe he should run for US Congress? He meets the criteria for membership in the DemocRAT party in the House.