Hacktivist Group Anonymous Claims Breach of Dimona Nuclear Plant

By Yoni Weiss

Anonymous, a decentralized international hacktivist collective known for targeting governments with cyberattacks, has asserted that it successfully infiltrated computers controlling Israel’s nuclear infrastructure in Dimona. The group claims to have stolen documents as a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people amidst the ongoing war in Gaza.

In a statement, the group declared, “The first step of our operations was successful. As promised earlier, this operation was high-risk, but unlike the bloodthirsty Netanyahu and his terrorist army, we conducted the operation in a manner that ensured no civilians were harmed. We targeted certain servers belonging to the regime’s nuclear organizations. While wiping and destroying data, we managed to preserve a portion of it, amounting to 7GB, which we intend to disclose to the global community.”

The hackers claim to possess a trove of data, including 4,290 PDF documents, around 5,000 emails, 1,359 Word documents, 352 Excel spreadsheets, 236 PowerPoint presentations, and more.

Their statement concludes with a warning to Israeli authorities: “You do not have much time to end the war, or our wrath will be unleashed upon you. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

Despite their bold claims, an initial examination of the posted documents suggests that they contain outdated data not sourced from official government computers. Israeli cybersecurity experts urge caution, suggesting that the hack may serve as a form of psychological warfare aimed at embarrassing Israel and causing moral, rather than nuclear, damage.

Gaby Portnoy, the director-general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, highlighted that Israel has been contending with 15 hostile cybergroups since Oct. 7, primarily originating from Iran and Hezbollah. Portnoy emphasized the close ties between Hamas, Hezbollah, and their Iranian supporters, particularly in the realm of cyberwarfare. He also noted the involvement of various global hacktivist groups aligning with these entities.