An anonymous hacker group has released a video claiming to have infiltrated the Israeli military and stolen some “top secret” documents…
Anonymous claims IDF was hacked
Two weeks after Israel's Ministry of Justice acknowledged a cybersecurity breach in which hundreds of gigabytes of data may have been stolen, according to a statement of responsibility, the Anonymous hacker group has targeted a more important target: the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). announced that they had broken into it. .
In a video published on X on April 18, Anonymous posted, “After hacking the Department of Justice, today we want to introduce their terrorist army to the world.”
Coverage of the cyber aspects of the Gaza conflict has been limited given the nature of the fighting on the ground, but the recent escalation has seen Iran move from behind its proxies, and the two most cyber-active areas in the world. There is a lot of government involvement right now. More publicly.This too unverified claims An Iranian hacking group has compromised Israeli radar technology.
Meanwhile, even as Iran steadily improves its technology, Israel's cyber attack capabilities remain far below what Iran can muster, so digitalization will escalate as ballistic attacks subside. The possibility is inevitable.
None of that has anything to do with the more theatrical hacking claims directed against the Israeli military. Anonymous is best thought of as an overarching agenda initiated, coordinated, and promoted by self-proclaimed members. It would be a mistake to view this as a globally organized group with any structure. The latest claims appear to have come from a pro-Palestinian group calling itself “Anonymous for Justice.”
jerusalem post reports that “according to IDF's security assessments, the likelihood of an actual breach is minimal. IDF's computer systems are highly protected and classified at various levels.” post It suggests that if there was a breach, it was likely “obtained from a civilian computer.”
Anonymous' video claims that the compromised data includes “the identities of generals, military bases, military contracts, and top-secret projects,” totaling 20 GB. Data across over 230,000 files. The video also tells the IDF that the hacking operation was “carried out with the cooperation of some freedom fighters in the armed forces.”
The Israeli government is on high alert against cyber security and has warned that it expects activity to increase after Ramadan. The recent conflict with Iran will further strengthen these threats, adding to the already significant backdrop of always-on cyber activity across the region. Similar to the movement aspect, there are different levels of cyberweapons, and the decision to escalate will be equally difficult.
As for this particular claim, it remains to be seen what we will get from this mass of leaked data. In reality, its contents will only be revealed if highly sensitive data that is self-evident to be from secure military systems is made public. There are no visible screenshots in the video, and the level of protection marks is not clear.
What will be more interesting in the coming weeks is whether any signs of an aggressive cyber campaign by either side become public or acknowledged.
I contacted the IDF for comment on the hacking allegations.
