Iranian Cyber Assaults on Israel Have Surged Since October 7

Jerusalem, 9 April, 2024 (TPS) -- Cyberattacks against Israeli by Iran and its proxies have surged since October 7, the director of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate warned on Tuesday.

“When [Hamas’s commander Mohammed] Deif and [Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya] Sinwar surprised Israel on Oct. 7, they succeeded in undermining the physical security of people in Israel,” said Gabi Portnoy, addressing the annual Cybertech Global Tel Aviv conference.

“And at the same time, on the digital level, by the order of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, cyberattacks by Iran and Hezbollah in the region and beyond started around the clock against Israel,” Portnoy added.

“The attack intensity is higher than ever before with Iranian and Hezbollah groups cooperating to attack Israel in every sector,” he stressed.

According to Portnoy, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security has been using proxies to hack Israel. He noted that some attacks have come from a Tehran office building purporting itself to be a tech company while other attacks were attributed to Lebanese Cedar, a group of hackers aligned with Hezbollah. Portnoy said Lebanese Cedar was responsible a 2023 attack on the Ziv Medical Center in Safed in November.

The attack tried and failed to disrupt the hospital’s operations, but the hackers were able to  steal sensitive patient data.

Portnoy warned that hackers have also struck targets in Israel’s government, technology, transportation, finance, academic and business sectors among others.

“Iran is trying to harm business continuity,” Portnoy warned. “With one push of a button it is Israel, and tomorrow it can be anywhere else so we need to fight cyberterrorism together.”

According to the Cyber Directorate’s annual report, Israel was hit by 3,380 cyber attacks of which 800 had “significant potential for damage” during the period of time between October 7 and the end of the year. The directorate’s report was released at the end of March.

Disinformation Aims to Divide Israel

Portnoy’s remarks come on the heels of a warning by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) saying that Iran was likely responsible for a disinformation campaign to divide Israeli society. The warning came after a funeral bouquet was mysteriously delivered on Friday to the family of hostage Liri Albag, who is believed to be alive in Gaza.

The wreath was accompanied by note which said, “May her memory be a blessing – Liri Albag. But everyone knows the country is more important.”

Dr. Meir Javedanfar, a specialist on Iran who teaches at Reichman University in Herzliya, told The Press Service of Israel that the incident was consistent with Tehran’s efforts to weaken Israel’s social fabric.

“The Iranians for years have had an interest in creating division within Israeli society,” Javedanfar said.

A Microsoft report released in February found that Iran’s online disinformation activities and cyberattacks on Israel have soared since October 7. That report warned of the prospect of similar Iranian efforts to interfere in other countries — particularly in the US, which is in the middle of a presidential election campaign.

The Shin Bet exposed Iran’s use of fake social media accounts to recruit Israeli citizens online for espionage in January.