Cyber attacks were launched against various Israeli targets as part of the Iranian Jerusalem Day attacks and the OPIsrael cyber operation. The Anonymous Sudan files, an activist group taking part in recent attacks on Israel, published a list of targets. It includes banks like Discount and Mizrahi Tefahot, as well as the Israel Post website. Some sites managed to defend themselves while others either went down or are still down. Most attacks focus on denial of service (DDOS) and defacement on different websites. DDOS attacks create a heavy load on the website that causes it to crash for a short time. Despite occasional interruptions, the websites of banks in Israel remain available thanks to their strong protections. They are restricted to the marketing websites and are not related to the internal systems of the banks. Anti-Israeli groups are taking advantage of Iranian Jerusalem Day to attack financial targets and brand the date as Black Friday. Cyber attacks usually focus on the DDoS service, but it is hoped that advanced preparation will prevent more serious attacks. Anonymous Sudan is an activist group carrying out DDOS attacks and defacing websites. They attacked targets in Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and France, and now they have added Israel to their target list. There is an Iranian effort against Israel in several sectors for the purposes of terrorism, harassment, and intimidation. Cyber activity of shutting down websites is also part of the Iranian effort of activating terrorist moves against the citizens of Israel. The banking system was prepared ahead of time for these scenarios and is on the pulse to prevent the development of a more serious crisis. The protection of the banking system is improving year by year in light of the strict requirements of the banking supervision on the subject.
As part of the Iranian Jerusalem Day attacks and the OPIsrael cyber operation, cyber attacks were conducted today (Friday) against many Israeli targets. In the last few minutes, the Anonymous Sudan files, which has been taking an active part in the recent attacks on Israel, published a list of targets – and the list includes banks in Israel such as Discount, Mizrahi Tefahot and others, as well as the Israel Post website. Some sites have fallen, some are still down and some have managed to defend themselves.
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Most attacks focus on denial of service (DDOS) and defacement, mainly on different websites. DDoS attacks create a heavy load on the website that causes it to crash, usually for a short time. The site’s servers are busy with false requests, and are therefore unable to respond to the requests of real users.
The sites that did go down, returned to operation within a few minutes. The Mizrahi Tefahot marketing site returned to activity in the last few minutes. The National Cyber Organization clarifies that in the last hour, attempts to carry out a load attack on the websites of banks in Israel were identified and stopped. Thanks to the strong protections of the banks, except for occasional interruptions, the websites continue to be available and live. The attempts are limited to the marketing websites and are not related to the internal systems of the banks.
Osher Ashur, cyber manager at the auren Israel consulting firm and cyber advisor to the Ministry of Defense: “Anti-Israeli groups are taking advantage of Iranian Jerusalem Day to attack financial targets and brand the date as Black Friday for the Israeli economy, following the expected threat to Israel’s credit rating.” Asur explains that all the banks were attacked, but for example he identifies that “Bank Leumi blocked access to the entrances of users from outside the country and thus survived the attack”.
Gil Messing, head of staff and manager of Check Point’s global communications system, explains that “Iranian Jerusalem Day is a focus of concentration of effort by various cyber groups, but they must be seen in the broader context – they attacked before, they attack today and will attack in the days and weeks The near ones. To the extent that the attacks will prevent the DDoS service, as is the case in most cases – this is a low level of attacks and damage. It is hoped that advance preparation by entities in the economy will prevent more serious attacks of the Aha type that have also occurred in recent days, and may occur in the future.”
“Anonymous Sudan is a hacker group that first appeared a few months ago, we encountered it as part of our work about a month ago in an attack they carried out,” said Lionel Siegel, head of the cyber intelligence department at CYE. “This is an activist group, possibly with ties to Russia, which carries out DDOS (denial of service) attacks and defaces websites. The group has carried out several attacks, among others, on targets in Sweden, Denmark, Australia and France, now Israel is joining the target map. Today’s attacks were carried out as part of the #opisrael campaign, a campaign that takes place in every A year around April 7. Today, the Iranian Jerusalem Day, is also used as a reason for the attackers to carry out attacks as part of the campaign.
“It is possible and desirable to look at the broader picture and understand that there is an Iranian effort against Israel in several sectors for the purposes of terrorism, harassment and intimidation (shooting from Lebanon, shooting from the IDF, attacks on the Yosh), this cyber activity of shutting down websites is also part of the Iranian effort of activating Terrorist moves against the citizens of Israel.”
“A cyber attack on the websites of the banks in Israel was expected today – when the Iranian Jerusalem Day is celebrated,” noted Ram Levy, founder and CEO of Confidas – a cyber attack protection and management company, in response to the attacks. “Hackers have been trying to bring down the system’s websites for a decade on this day The bank in Israel, and the entire banking system was prepared ahead of time for these scenarios and is on the pulse to prevent the development of a more serious crisis. We note that the protection of the banking system is improving year by year, this is, among other things, in light of the strict requirements of the banking supervision on the subject.”