Israel confirmed a new website hack operation against government services with no precedent in size and quality.
According to credible sources in Israel, the country’s administrative websites have been the target of a hack operation. Updates about the website hack indicated that the access to these websites have already been recovered by local experts.
The Israeli defense ministry, interior ministry and dozens of other sections have been the target of the recent attack. Based on a tweet by National Cyber Directorate of Israel, “a denial of service (DDoS) attack has been identified on a communications provider which, as a result, has for a short time prevented access to a number of sites, including government sites.”
The cyber assailants use DDoS to paralyze their targets’ servers by flooding them with queries for data. Israel’s cyber-defenses are overseen by a government-funded department. According to a research published in 2021, the multitude of cyber-attacks in Israel have “dramatically increased” during the years.
According to a local official in Israel’s defense department, the website hack was unprecedented in the country’s history cyber activity. Following the massive hack on official websites, Israeli ministry of communications launched investigation into the issue with the emergency sectors.”
The hacker’s origin was not readily accessible despite various speculations on the table. Similar attacks on Israeli networks have been blamed on Iranian-linked hackers in the past.
Tehran and Tel Aviv have been engaged in a latent battle that involves cyber-attacks as well as actual attacks on ground sites. During the recent weeks, Israeli attacks on Iranian positions in Syria led to the death of two soldiers. Iran responded by targeting an Israeli secret center in Erbil two days ago.
The fresh website hack in Israel occurs while Iranian sources announced thwarting an Israeli sabotage operation against a nuclear site.
Website Hack after Missile Strike
While the source of recent attack on Israeli websites is yet to be known, recent regional developments might be illuminating. Israel has killed two Iranian troops in Syria in recent weeks, followed by Iranian vows for revenge.
A separate report indicated the trespassing operation of Israeli drones into the Iranian soils up in “Kermanshah province.” Tehran’s message was clear in a missile strike against Israeli cells in Northern Iraq.
The recent attack might be in the framework of the recent duel between Israel and Iran. It would make more sense after a report by Iranian authorities about foiling an attack on its underground nuclear site in Fordow.
The IRGC allegedly thwarted an Israeli conspiracy to “sabotage” the Fordow complex, according to Iranian official media. Fordow is and underground uranium enrichment plant near the city of Qom in central Iran.
The announcement was made yesterday, promising more information shortly, but also described an alleged attack. It concerned an Israeli operative mission to infiltrate a facility staffer who worked with advanced IR-6 centrifuges.
According to reports, the suspected spy had access to secure networks and received financial resources in cash and bitcoins. Utilizing a connection at an anonymous Hong Kong firm as a proxy, the agent attempted to access the facility worker.
The massive sabotage assault was reportedly scheduled before the Iranian new year festivities. IRGC‘s intelligence branch, along with its Nuclear Command, had the main role in thwarting the attack in time.
Israeli attack against Iranian targets soared amid the attempts to finalize the fresh nuclear agreement with Tehran. Despite potential hazards, Iran’s Website Hack operation shows that it is insistent on defending its positions outside negotiating table. A potential Israeli response might further complicate the condition, facilitating fresh regional escalations between the arch-rivals.
