As the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies, most are focused on traditional battlefields: air, land, and sea. However, this battle is playing out on a digital battlefield as well. Lionsgate Network CEO and Founder Bezalel Eithan Raviv spoke with FOX Business about the recent Nobitex hack and its implications on the future of geopolitical conflicts.
“I think it’s a game-changer. I think geopolitical efforts and war as we see it is right now playing in different avenues,” Raviv said. “We always said that when you trace the funds, you are able to see what’s behind the curtain. And now this is another escalation or evolution of how factors or actors or entities within the space are able to target the actual source of funding and change the game for the entire system.”
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Nobitex, one of Iran’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, was recently the victim of a hack that led to nearly $90 million in losses. The hacking group Gonjeshke Darande, which has ties to Israel, claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Reuters, Gonjeshke Darande has a history of attacking Iran through sophisticated cyber hacks. Though the Israeli government has never formally acknowledged its ties to the group, Israeli media says Gonjeshke Darande is “linked” to the country.
Gonjeshke Darande’s latest apparent anti-Iran hack comes as long-escalating tensions between Tehran and Jerusalem erupted on June 13 with Israel’s historic preemptive attacks. Now, Raviv says that the world is witnessing a new form of warfare with virtually zero lives lost.
“This is a war of codes, really, where casualties in human life are zero and the efforts are only behind the curtain, no ammunition whatsoever,” Raviv told FOX Business. “The back end for any kind of battlefield is much more important than the front lines, so this is basically now change of characters in the synopsis or the narrative of what a war looks like.”
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Raviv acknowledges that while human lives are not lost on the digital battlefield, they can be destroyed there by bad actors. He said the parallels between traditional terrorism and financial terrorism are evident—malicious actors target an entity, and the victims are often innocent consumers who just trusted their funds to an unprepared custodian.
“People are being scammed, $53 billion a year in the US alone,” Raviv said. “This is a very alarming number and it rings like a church bell on Sunday, but law enforcement obviously haven’t stepped up to the game yet because we’ve seen those cases, 6,000 new cases on a daily basis, right?”
Now, Raviv is calling for more action, saying that legislation like the recently-passed GENIUS Act isn’t enough.
“Every person with money in their bank should worry because law enforcement are not doing enough and legislation is still five years [behind],” Raviv told FOX Business.
While the Lionsgate Network CEO believes there is work to be done on several fronts, he says it all stems from “the fact that every exchange is moving malicious-related money and enjoying the commission, regardless if that transaction was legit or illegitimate, they still enjoy the actual commission. That is their bloodline. That’s how they profit.”
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