Popular Iranian App BadeSaba was Hacked to Send “Help Is on the Way” Alerts

Hackers took over Iran’s BadeSaba Calendar prayer app, sending “Help Is on the Way” alerts and messages urging soldiers to lay down weapons.

Residents across Iran were jolted by a double shock early Saturday morning. As joint military strikes from the United States and Israel hit various locations, a popular mobile app used by over five million people was hijacked to broadcast messages calling for government forces to step down.

These alerts arrived just as the series of first explosions was heard, creating a sense of chaos both on the ground and on people’s screens. The focus of these alerts was the BadeSaba Calendar, an essential tool for many Iranians used for tracking daily prayer timings.

At approximately 9:52 AM Tehran time, the app stopped sending its usual religious reminders, and instead, it began flooding phones with alerts titled “Help is on the way,” which went on ...