Israel Weathers Cyber Attack

A pro-Palestinian cyber attack campaign was launched against Israeli government websites on Sunday but did not cause serious disruption, an Israeli statement said.

Over the weekend, email messages and websites using the name of the anonymous hacking group said a campaign had been launched to “erase Israel from cyberspace” on Sunday.

“As of midday, Israeli government websites are accessible to the public,” a Treasury Ministry statement said.

Attempts by Reuters to access the websites of Israeli government ministries, the police and central statistics bureau were successful.

Yitzchak Ben Yisrael, who founded the government’s Cyber Bureau two years ago, told Israel Radio there had been some disruptions to several websites, such as the Education Ministry, whose security protocols had yet to be updated.

The Cyber Bureau was established to ward off hacking attacks on Israel’s key networks.

“They have not managed to disrupt even one website that has been protected [by the bureau] — the really important sites,” Ben Yisrael said.

The attackers in particular targeted the website of Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust museum. Cyber attack expert Roni Becher said that the Yad Vashem website has come under a “fairly massive attack.”

The Jerusalem Post also reported that it had successfully defended itself from cyber attacks.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the April 8th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.