#OpIsrael: Anonymous attacks hundreds of Israeli websites
Edited time: April 07, 2014 13:08
Hundreds of websites of Israeli ministries and organizations came under attack by Anonymous early Monday as part of the hacktivist group’s anti-Israel operation, dubbed #OpIsrael.
“On April 7, 2014, we call upon our brothers and sisters to hack, deface, hijack, database leak, admin takeover, and DNS terminate the Israeli Cyberspace by any means necessary” the group said in a statement.
The move is an act of protest against Israel’s policies, including those against Palestine.
“The further assault on the people of Gaza, who have been flooded by your sewage, terrorized by your military apparatus, and left to die at the border while waiting for medical attention will NOT be tolerated anymore,” the statement read.
“We will not stop until the police state becomes a free state and Palestine is free.”
On a website dedicated to the event, another hacker group – AnonGhost – posted a video saying that the attack will target every possible Israeli website in order to show solidarity with Palestine.
In March, hackers united under the AnonGhost banner claimed to have crashed the website of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The group posted the logins and passwords of the website’s users online.
The first cyber-attacks under the name OpIsrael were launched by Anonymous during and Israeli assault on Gaza in November 2012. Around 700 Israeli websites, including high-profile government setups such as the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli President’s official website, were taken down. Following the attack, Anonymous posted the personal data of 5,000 Israeli officials online.
The websites of the Israeli parliament, ministries and other government organizations stopped operating for some time after last year’s attack, which also took place on April 7.
A Middle East hacker who participated in the operation told RT that the “aim of the attack was to show the world the true face of Israel and its armed forces.” He said that last year’s attack was a warning for Israel to be ready for new, larger “surprises.”
In retaliation against the massive assault, Israeli hackers allegedly broke into the website OpIsrael.com and posted pro-Israeli content. The site was allegedly being used to coordinate cyber-attacks on Israeli sites.
Anti-Israel hackers warn: Prepare for #OpIsrael http://bit.ly/1ieACwx
Anonymous ‘knocks out’ Mossad website over Israel’s Gaza offensive
Hacker group Anonymous has reportedly taken down the website of the Israeli secret service Mossad in protest of Israel’s military incursion in Gaza. The ‘hacktivists’ have already targeted a number of organizations in their mission to stop the “genocide.”
Mossad’s website went offline at around 00:40 GMT and is still down at the time of writing. The Israeli government has yet to make any comment on the supposed hack attack.
‘Israel you’re weak’: Anonymous hacktivists shut down key Israeli websites
Worldwide hacker collective Anonymous has unleashed another wave of attacks against Israel’s government websites over their military incursion into Gaza, taking down “hundreds” of portals, including those run by Mossad and the IDF.
READ MORE: Anonymous ‘knocks out’ Mossad website over Israel’s Gaza offensive
Among the scalps claimed by the group were the Ministry of Justice website, the state archive portal, and even the national advertising agency. Most of the attacks were repelled within hours, with all agencies currently back online.
“We are attacking the government of Israel more .. Israel you’re weak! :(“ said a tweet from one of the branches of the dispersed network of online activists, known as AnonymousGlobo.
Anonymous generally uses DDOS (distributed denial of service attacks) that overload a website with fake requests, making it unavailable for legitimate users.
The group announced its latest operation #OpSaveGaza at the beginning of last month, but the intensity of attacks was ramped up a week ago, when a Palestinian man was shot dead, while wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, which serves as a symbol of the movement.
#OpSaveGaza: Anonymous pledges more cyber-breaches over Israeli attacks
Anonymous carried out one of its most high-profile attacks during the last invasion of Gaza two years ago, when it claimed dealing $3 billion worth of damage to Israel.
The network has asked its supporters to download disruptive software that can be used in the attacks, which depend on many hacktivists acting simultaneously.
One of the Anonymous branches, AnonGhost Team, claimed to have hacked the biggest bank system in Israel a fortnight ago, however, on the whole their impact has been more negligible than during Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012.
Largely this is due to government agencies being more proactive in legally pursuing leading hacktivists, not only removing some of the most skilful hackers from the scene, but dissuading others from even trying to make a difference online.
“Anons are more protective of their profiles… governments are far more against truths being exposed and their dirty laundry being aired, more so than ever… Previously anon has been very public with its activities. The case is much different now,” AnonOps, another group within the movement, told Vice.