Hackers take sides between Israel and Hamas

As Israel prepares for a long war against Hamas in Gaza, the conflict is also playing out on the cybersecurity field.

PwC risk consulting leader Siddharth Vishwanath told Mint that the escalating conflict “is likely to lead to…full-blown cyber warfare” as multiple players get more involved. And Israel’s global role as a tech leader could be feeding into the increase in cyber attacks as well.

“Israel has one of the most advanced security systems in the world,” Vishwanath said. “The attack on Israel perhaps means there may also have been a tech hack to suppress intelligence gathering, and alerts.”

The newsletter Cyberknow created a cybertracker that maps groups known to be targeting both Israel and Palestine. Its tracker currently notes 10 groups working on what it calls "pro-Israel" attacks and 48 groups labeled as "anti-Israel/pro-Palestine." One of the groups, ThreatSec, claims to have attacked Israel in the past, but in a Telegram post, said it had recently gone after Gazan internet provider Alfanet.

Alfanet reported to Wired that its headquarters and main tower had been completely destroyed by bombing but didn’t comment on ThreatSec’s cyber attack claims. Another group, the Indian Cyber Force, told Time it had shut down the websites of Hamas and the Palestinian National Bank on Sunday.

Hacktivists with the group AnonGhost targeted a missile alert app on phones in Israel, Cybernews reported, using the system to threaten a nuclear attack. In comments to the Washington Post, Alexander Leslie, a Recorded Future analyst, noted that such attacks are dangerous and disruptive, especially during war.

“There are obvious security and safety risks for false missile alerts at a time like this,” Leslie told the paper. “It is a serious escalation in targeting and intent, regardless of its impact.”

A Russia-affiliated hacking group called Killnet said Sunday that they would target the Israeli government, angry over the current round of violence as well as the country’s support for Ukraine. But as Truesec threat intelligence expert Mattias Wåhlén told Bloomberg, there might be a pecuniary interest involved as well.

“Their actions look more like opportunistic strikes,” Wåhlén said. “The conflict creates headlines which attract groups like Killnet that try to monetize DDoS attacks.”