Israel comes under cyber-attack from multiple opponents

The list shows the latest attacks by the group
Source: zone-h 1337, H4x0rL1f3, ZombiE_KsA and Invectus are among the names used by attackers who yesterday (Monday) hacked the Israeli web sites of popular brands such as Coca Cola, Groupon and the BBC. The sites were defaced in order to spread anti-Israeli political statements. The attackers have been active for some time and have identified a new point of attack in the latest flare-up in the Middle East conflict.

As can be seen from the mirrors saved and archived by the hackers on Zone-H.org, they have been going about their work for a while. In September, the protest was aimed at the alleged denigration of Mohammad following the controversial "Innocence of the Muslims" video. The anti-Israeli statements that have now appeared are typically filled with hate and antisemitism: "I am writing on the behalf of all Pakistani and all Muslims. Damn you Isreal [sic]."

In September, the group defaced web sites to protest against the Mohammad video
Source: 1337 The attackers have carried out other hacks that have been free of political and religious outbursts, in which they restrict themselves to their tags and the question "Where is the Security? xD." They do not claim affiliation with Anonymous, but describe themselves simply as Pakistani hackers. It is not difficult, though, to get the impression that these hacks are related to Anonymous' Operation Israel (#opisrael).

On Saturday, Anonymous posted a statement distancing itself from the kind of antisemitism seen in the Pakistani group's statements. In the course of Operation Israel, Anonymous claims to have hacked more than 600 Israeli web sites and deleted databases at Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bank of Jerusalem. It insists that these actions were not motivated by antisemitism. The group states that its attacks are merely a reaction to the Israeli government's plans to cut telecommunications to the Gaza Strip. This isn't Anonymous' first cyber-strike against Israel: Israeli government web sites were also attacked by the group in 2011.

It's a cyber-war - a cat and mouse game between security precautions and attackers
Source: 1337 Israel is also facing cyber-attacks from other directions. Earlier this year, a Hamas spokesman called for hacking attacks on Israel to be stepped up: "Penetrating Israeli websites means opening a new field of resistance and the beginning of an electronic war against Israeli occupation." Israel has also beefed up its digital protection programme, an effort mocked in a manifesto posted by the Pakistani group.

According to a report in The Guardian, since the beginning of the current offensive in Gaza, there have been more than 44 million attacks on Israeli government web sites, but only one was successful, and the unnamed web site was back online within ten minutes.

Update 22-11-12: ZombiE_KsA has published a statement, denying their involvement in the attacks. Apparently, a different hacker going by the name of L33t, 1337 or Khanstastic has been misusing Zombie_KsA's name for some time.

(crve)