Cyber Attack Suspected in False Rocket Sirens

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM — Security officials say that they suspect false rocket sirens that were heard in Yerushalayim and Eilat on Sunday night were caused by a cyberattack.

The Israel National Cyber Directorate is investigating whether Iranian agents were behind the incident, according to unsourced reports in Hebrew-language media.

In the meantime, municipalities have been instructed to take preventative measures against any future threat, the INCD said in a statement.

Residents in Yerushalayim’s Katamonim, Beit Hakerem, and Neve Yaakov neighborhoods reported hearing air raid sirens and said the alerts lasted for nearly an hour.

The IDF initially said that the alarms went off due to a technical malfunction, but after it became clear that civilian rather than the military’s networks were activated, suspicions arose about hacking.

Former IDF Deputy Chief of Staff MK Yair Golan (Meretz) told Army Radio on Monday morning that “the Home Front Command’s alarm system was not breached, the municipal siren system was – but it is very worrying and disturbing,” he said. “If there is a breach point there, it should be closed immediately.”

Israel’s leading cybersecurity firm Check Point Research revealed last week that Iranian hackers recently mounted a spear-phishing operation against senior Israeli and Israel-linked targets, including former foreign minister Tzipi Livni and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.