Israel seems to be trying to shake off the effects of a large-scale cyber attack. Attackers attacked several Israeli government websites last Monday evening, including the ministries of health, interior, justice and welfare, Haaretz and Kan’s Amichai Stein said. The Prime Ministry website was also affected by the attack. All websites are back online, the country’s National Cyber Department said in a statement.
The government did not formally identify a possible perpetrator, but said the sites were victims of a denial-of-service attack that flooded them with traffic. Haaretz sources claimed that the cyberattack targeted sites with the gov.il domain name and said they suspected either a state actor or a “major organization” was responsible. DW alleges that an Iran-linked hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack and says it may be in retaliation for Israel’s alleged operation against an Iranian nuclear facility. However, there is no confirmed information yet.
It is unclear whether this is the largest cyberattack against Israel to date, a defense source said in a conversation with Haaretz. However, NCF and defense officials were reportedly concerned enough to declare a state of emergency and review possible damage, including anything that could compromise other important websites and critical infrastructure.
Unlike attacks that blocked Ukrainian government websites prior to the invasion of Russia, denial-of-service attacks here are unlikely to do much damage. The attacks have made websites harder to reach, but there is no evidence that criminals have crashed sites or compromised data.
However, this cyberattack could only worsen the already tense situation. The attack came just one day after Iran launched missiles at the Iraqi city of Erbil, a clear warning to the United States and its allies. Israel was already on the alert, and the country had previously responded to cyberattacks with physical force.
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