Israeli Elbit cybersecurity breach in US targets 369 employees

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
28 Sep 2022 08:58
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Elbit US announces that its systems were hacked and the personal information of 369 of its employees was stolen.

Elbit Drone being prepared by IOF prior to an operation (AFP)

Elbit America, the US branch of the Israeli arms manufacturing contractor Elbit, reported a cyber-security breach and stressed that sensitive personal data was likely stolen.

The contractor specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) also noted, in a notification to the authorities in Maine earlier in September, according to TechCrunch, that 369 employees were impacted by the June cyber-attack.

“On June 8, 2022, someone attempted to interfere with Elbit America’s cyber operations. We immediately shut down our network and took steps to secure our environment,” the company said in a letter addressed to employees potentially affected by the hack.

Following the attack, Elbit hired a “leading cybersecurity firm” to investigate the incident. According to Elbit, investigations concluded that “an unknown actor gained access to and obtained certain data” from its network, including “individuals’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, direct deposit information, and ethnicity.”

The business provided little other insight on the cyberattack, but stated that it did not believe any personal data had been "misused as a result of this incident."

Although cybersecurity blogger Eduard Kovacs noted that a ransomware gang known as "Black Basta" boasted of an attack on Elbit Systems in late June, not long after the business claims it was compromised, the Texas-based subsidiary did not name any actors believed to have carried out the operation. Payroll records and a non-disclosure agreement were allegedly among the stolen data the group, Black Basta, uploaded at the time on its website.

Elbit is headquartered in "Israel," and its primary business is drone technology, however, it has dabbled in the surveillance market through a series of acquisitions.

An Elbit Systems' multi-role long-range Male UAV Hermes 900 (AFP)

Researchers at Citizen Lab discovered that starting in 2016, a Cyberbit subsidiary of Elbit created malware that was used to surveil Ethiopian dissidents in the US, the UK, and other countries.

Elbit eventually sold the majority of its Cyberbit shares, and by 2020, it retained a minority holding.

Human rights organizations have condemned Elbit for its participation in providing the Israeli occupation forces with attack, reconnaissance, and spy drones in addition to the Cyberbit incident. In July, activists attacked a British factory in Shenstone that produced UAV engines for Elbit, allegedly causing the facility thousands of dollars worth of damage in response to deadly Israeli incursions in the occupied West Bank.

BREAKING: Palestine Action have descended upon drone factory UAV Engines LTD, wreaking havoc for Israel's largest weapons company, Elbit Systems #ShutElbitDown pic.twitter.com/RFjwbTn6HW
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) July 24, 2022

In July, Palestine Action confirmed via a press release on its website that its “activists took action today seeking to dismantle an industry built on occupation, dispossession, and warfare across the globe”.

Elbit has supplied drone technology to a wide range of nations, including the United States, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Georgia, and the Philippines in addition to "Israel's" own occupation forces.