More than 100,000 Israeli websites have come under attack from Anonymous hacktivists around the world. Speaking to RT, a Middle East hacker explained the aims of the cyber assault on Israel's online presence.
The websites of the Israeli parliament, banks, ministries and
other government organizations were down for some time on Sunday
during the assault, dubbed Operation Israel. The loosely-knit
hacking group Anonymous threatened to "disrupt and erase Israel
from cyberspace" in protest over its mistreatment of
Palestinians.
The hackers also released a list of email addresses and credit card
numbers, reportedly lifted from the online catalog of Israel
Military, a privately-owned business that sells military surplus,
Haaretz reported. Israel Military officials indicated that the
information made public did not come from its site.
Looks like Israeli and US media fail to inform public about #OpIsrael 100.000+ website hack. From military up to banks.
— #OpIsrael (@Op_Israel) April 7, 2013
A Middle East hacker, who took part in the massive cyber
assault, told RT that the operation's aim was "to show the world
the true face of Israel and its armed forces.”
“We are the sons of Palestinian people and we feel the
pressure of the Israeli occupation not only in Gaza but also in all
the Arab and Muslim world. And as the first retaliation we
committed a fast and full-scale attack on Israeli websites to warn
Israel and all its supporters about the threat that hangs over
them. They have weapons and we have our own means. As a result of
this attack we’ve received the names of those who cooperate with
Israel. The aim of the attack was to show the world the true face
of Israel and its armed forces. And we coped with our
task.”
“So now we make a clear warning to Israel: “In the future be
ready for new larger “surprises”,” he stated.
Israel responded to mass cyber attacks on Sunday by launching a
series of raids in which several Palestinian activists were
arrested, President Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor for communications and
information technology Sabri Saydam told WAFA.
Nothing indicates that the Palestinians have anything to do with the hacking of Israeli sites, Saydam added, calling it “a cyberspace battle” and stressing that the Internet “is open to all.”
An IDF spokesman however has denied reports of arrests,
according to Haaretz.
In a message released Saturday the group addressed the
Israeli government saying: “You have NOT stopped your endless
human rights violations. You have NOT stopped illegal settlements.
You have NOT respected the ceasefire. You have shown that you do
NOT respect international law.”
Israeli hackers have reportedly prepared an answer to the Anonymous
cyber attack, penetrating the website associated with the campaign
against Israel - opisrael.com. Instead of reading about Anonymous'
anti-Israel views, those visiting the page on Sunday morning were
instead presented with a pro-Israel banner and a long list of facts
regarding the legitimacy of Israel and the history of the Jewish
people, according to Israel Today.