Mass hack hits members of Israeli Knesset; Shin Bet investigates

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli Media
9 Sep 2023 18:38

Cyberattacks have mainly targeted the mobile phones of members of the Israeli opposition party Yesh Atid, stirring controversy amid internal division.

"Israel's" opposition leaders (L to R) Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, Labour Party leader Merav Michaeli, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid, and former Security Minister Benny Gantz hold a press conference in occupied al-Quds, Palestine, on February 13, 2023, (AFP)

Israeli opposition members of the Knesset have reported massive breaches in their mobile phones, according to Israeli Channel 12.

Fifteen members of the Yesh Atid party, including party leader Yair Lapid, had their communications disrupted, as they could not access their WhatsApp accounts, according to the Israeli television channel.

Subsequently, the Shin Bet security agency, known as the Shabak, has opened an investigation into the breaches.

Official Israeli websites and personal social media accounts have been subject to several waves of hacking, which also targeted occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's social media accounts.

Previously, the hacker group, Anonymous Sudan, launched a major cyberattack, leading to the disruption of services for several Israeli official sites. The group successfully took down the websites of "Tel Aviv" University, the Israeli water company known as Mekorot, and the Jerusalem Post newspaper.

The group even targeted the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, commonly known as the Mossad.

In April, "Israel" experienced its largest cyberattack in years, resulting in the takedown of over 60 websites and the loss of their services. Hackers also uploaded anti-Zionist propaganda and slogans on the breached websites' pages.

Read moer: 60 websites targeted by cyberattacks, largest in years: Israeli media

Ineffective cyber Iron Dome

In the wake of a rise in cyber attacks against Israeli occupation websites, Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet, said "Tel Aviv" was developing the "global cyber iron dome" system in cooperation with a number of countries to identify "threats" using artificial intelligence (AI), Israeli media reported.

"The Iron Dome that the Shin Bet is developing in cyberspace is already taking its first steps, the array of alliances is emerging and it has already come into action," the i24NEWS Israeli broadcaster quoted Bar as saying at the annual International Cyber Week conference hosted by "Tel Aviv" University.

The Israeli security official said the Israeli occupation is "already cooperating with a number of significant countries in the field and we see the global cyber iron dome beginning to take shape."

Bar claimed that the Shin Bet was effectively using AI technology to prevent threats, adding that "the AI technology was assimilated into the Shin Bet's countermeasures machine naturally."

He added that Shin Bet realized it was impossible to "win this war with sticks and stones."