Executive Summary

God's Gladiators announced a second phase of its “Long Hands” operation and claimed to have carried out new attacks against companies and employees in Argentina associated with banking and finance, telecommunications and technology, oil, gas and energy, as well as chemical and petrochemical industries.

The publication significantly expands the declared scale of a campaign that iQBlack has been tracking since August. The sequence began with political threats directed at Argentina and the government of Javier Milei, and had its first public materialization when the actor identified the Municipality of Firmat, in Santa Fe, and released samples of information that showed consistency with municipal administrative systems.

The new stage introduces a different scenario. God's Gladiators is now projecting “Long Hands” onto sectors of greater economic and strategic relevance and accompanied the announcement with an image featuring the names of high-profile Argentine companies, including YPF and Mercado Libre. However, the publication currently provides no technical evidence comparable to that observed in the Firmat episode.

The first phase produced evidence. The second, for now, offers a promise of scale.

From a Municipal Victim to Strategic Sectors

The evolution of “Long Hands” shows a clear shift in its public narrative.

In September, Firmat provided the actor with a specific victim and material that could be analyzed. The samples examined at the time provided stronger support for the actor’s possession of information associated with the municipal administration, although they did not allow the initial access vector to be reconstructed or the full scope of the compromise to be determined.

The new publication moves beyond that local scale.

God's Gladiators now claims to have carried out attacks against organizations belonging to four major economic domains: finance, telecommunications and technology, energy, and petrochemicals.

An operation against a municipal administration and a campaign targeting major Argentine companies would represent very different levels of potential exposure.

YPF and Mercado Libre Appear in the Narrative, Not Yet in the Evidence

Among the organizations announced by God's Gladiators are YPF and Mercado Libre, two names capable of immediately increasing the visibility of any claim involving cyber activity in Argentina.

However, no samples, technical screenshots, documents, access records, or other material have so far been presented that would allow specific compromises involving these companies to be validated based on the evidence currently available.

The selection of high-profile organizations could reflect genuine operational activity, anticipation of future disclosures, or simply an attempt to increase the communicational impact of “Long Hands”.

The current evidence does not allow those possibilities to be distinguished.

The Second Phase Is Also a Communication Operation

Another relevant element lies in the wording used by God's Gladiators.

The actor itself indicates that an “official statement” regarding this second phase will be released later.

That places the current publication at a stage preceding the possible disclosure of results: God's Gladiators states that the operation has taken place, lists sectors, introduces recognizable companies, and asks its audience to wait for a subsequent announcement.

The sequence therefore creates expectation before providing evidence.

That mechanism already deserves attention because “Long Hands” is functioning not only as an operational label. It is also being used as a continuing narrative in which each publication attempts to broaden perceptions of the campaign’s reach.

The geopolitical rhetoric also remains largely unchanged. God's Gladiators continues to frame its actions against Argentina within its confrontation with governments it considers aligned with Israel.

This shows continuity in the actor’s declared motivation, but it does not demonstrate that the technical scale of the operation has expanded at the same pace as its public narrative.

Analytical Closing

“Long Hands” has so far evolved through three distinct stages.

First, God's Gladiators placed Argentina within its narrative of political confrontation. It then identified Firmat and partially supported that threat with material that could be examined. It now claims to have moved toward companies and sectors of greater economic and strategic relevance.

The presence of names such as YPF and Mercado Libre significantly increases the impact of the announcement.

It also increases the need to keep visibility and evidence clearly separated.

The next statement promised by God's Gladiators will be the critical point for assessing this stage.