Report: Hizbullah’s Financial Institution Hacked, Party 'Perplexed'

Confusion arose among circles affiliated with Hizbullah after the party’s Al-Qard Al-Hasan financial institution was hacked, despite the institution's assurance the hackers had no access to any of the internal data or account numbers of depositors, the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported on Wednesday.

A hacker group called “Spiderz” hacked into the cameras and servers of Hizbullah’s financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hasan, which the party says is a charity association.

The group collected and exposed a name list of borrowers, and published the links to the information on a special page on Twitter, attaching all details related to its customers.

Spiderz called on borrowers to refrain from paying their due installments for the benefit of the institution. It also urged depositors to withdraw their deposits. The hackers promised, via a video recording, to publish additional information later.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association was established by Hizbullah in the 1980s. It was licensed by the Interior Ministry in 1987. It has 32 branches across Lebanon.

The hacking process created confusion among the association’s customers, given that their data was made public, said the daily.

The operation came a few months after the association launched an automated teller service in its branches in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the party's center of influence. This encouraged some to place financial deposits in the institution that is not subject to the Lebanese banking system.

The association downplayed the hack, saying the hackers failed to access any of the internal information. A spokesperson for the association said the hacking only affected the external network, explaining that the hack failed to reach the numbers of deposits, the value of loans, etc.

The data published to the public included lists of customers' names, account numbers and the type of currency in which they deal in. It also included a list of the most important customers, borrowers, loan amount, repayment rate, and personal information about customers.

The hacking operation also revealed the accounts of Al-Qard Al-Hassan Foundation in Jammal Trust Bank, which had been subjected to US sanctions in 2019 for providing financial services to Hizbullah, and was liquidated in Lebanon.