Background: 2023 Israel-Hamas War
The 2023 Israel-Hamas war is an ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups led by Hamas. Part of the broader Gaza-Israel conflict, the war began on October 7 with a militant Hamas invasion into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded with a counteroffensive named Operation Iron Swords.
In parallel to the Hamas invasion of Israel, we have observed a significant increase in cyber aggression against Israeli targets. This advisory covers the activity and provides insights into the first few days of the conflict.
Israel remains the top attacked state in October with 391 attacks:
Note there are recurring attacks. For example: insurance companies, banks, media, and service providers – are attacked day after day.
Religious threat actors are the top claiming actors:
Pro-Russian threat actors join the mix.
Pro-Russian threat actor Killnet claimed several attacks on Israel government sites and banks. We can only estimate this is on-par with the messages from the Kremlin.
Attackers target Israel critical infrastructure.
Anonymous Sudan, in cooperation with SiegedSec, claimed they attacked Industrial Control Systems in Israel. Their objectives are to target public infrastructure such as power grids, water systems and civil services. Anon Ghost group claims they impacted the Red Alert system, which provides alerts on imminent rocket attacks. We have seen these systems down in previous conflicts.
Top targeted verticals are government, financial services, traffic, news, education and health care.
Link to threat alert: Cyber Aggression Rises Following the October 2023 Israel-Hamas Conflict, October 11, 2023