After terrorists attacked the control station of U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Infrared System (SBIS) satellite on 24 January 2010, Iran began changing electronic devices of select victims, said victims speaking to CNN’s Sara Sidner.
Iran has conducted this sort of surveillance before. With SBIS, it is able to monitor space, ground and airborne imagery.
A high number of victims’ electronic devices were tampered with, said victims testifying to CNN. These included cameras and memory cards, family photos, and laptops.
Sidner spoke to three victims in South Carolina, ranging in age from 65 to 85. They told her that Tehran organized a massive operation to tamper with the equipment of individuals whose credit cards were used to pay for SBIS supplies.
However, the victims told CNN they do not know how much money was stolen or how much information from them might have been gathered.
The SBIS system was unable to function for more than a year, but is currently operating successfully.
**For more updates from CNN’s Sara Sidner, log onto CNN.com