Iran-Linked Handala Claims Cyberattacks on Three Major UAE Organizations On April 13, 2026, the Iran-aligned hacking group Handala announced a series of cyberattacks targeting three key UAE institutions: Dubai Courts, Dubai Land Department, and Dubai Roads & Transport Authority. The group claimed to have destroyed 6 petabytes of data and stolen 149 terabytes of sensitive information, framing the breach as retaliation against the UAE’s alleged alignment with Western and Israeli interests. In a statement posted on its Tor-based website, Handala described the attack as a "preemptive warning" to regional governments, citing the UAE’s perceived betrayal of the "Resistance Axis" a term often associated with Iran-backed factions. While the group’s claims remain unverified, its history of destructive operations lends credibility to the allegations. Handala, widely believed to be a front for Iran-backed Void Manticore, has a track record of phishing, data theft, extortion, and wiper attacks, often blending cyber operations with psychological warfare. Since the February 2026 escalation of U.S.-Israeli tensions with Iran, the group has intensified its activities, targeting Israeli military servers, intelligence personnel, and defense contractors. Recent attacks include: - A breach of PSK Wind Technologies, an Israeli defense and IT firm specializing in command-and-control systems (early April 2026). - A destructive attack on medical tech giant Stryker, where Handala claimed to have wiped over 200,000 devices across 79 countries and exfiltrated 50TB of corporate data all without deploying traditional malware. - The alleged hack of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal Gmail account, with the group releasing purported photos and files. The FBI has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification of Handala’s operatives, underscoring the group’s growing threat to critical infrastructure and national security.