Israeli hackers break into website coordinating online attack on Israeli websites; group still successfully hacks Education Ministry.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFFMan with computer 370(photo credit: REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
Israeli hackers responding to a campaign to launch cyber-attacks on the country’s websites and Facebook accounts by breaking into the server hosting a major anti-Israeli hacking nerve center.The website, OpIsrael.com, which was run by the Anonghost hacking group to help coordinate an online attack on Israel, was taken over by an Israeli hacker calling himself EhIsR. Under the heading “A few forgotten facts,” the hacker posted content such as “Israel became a nation in 1312 BCE, 2,000 years before the rise of Islam.”A video interview of Wafa Sultan, a Syrian critic of Islam, was also posted. Earlier, hackers operating under the name of “Israeli Elite” broke into websites in Pakistan and installed images of IDF soldiers and the Israeli flag.On the other side of the cyber-divide, anti-Israel hackers claimed to have broken into hundreds of Israeli Facebook accounts, and updated their Twitter account with a list of Israeli websites they said have been hacked.Roni Becher, who heads the cyber-attack division of the Avnet information security company said, “At this stage, we are mainly seeing a buildup of tension and power struggles between Israeli hackers and hackers from various groups who have joined Anonymous. Anonymous hackers are updating lists of websites they intend to attack."“In general, it is apparent that many organizations are making efforts to stop the attack, or at least to minimize damages,” he added.Meanwhile, a list began circulating the internet Saturday of official Israeli websites that are currently either already under attack by the anti-Israel group, or sites they plan to bring down as part of their OpIsrael internet operation. The list includes the official website of the Prime Minister's Office, the Israeli Defense Forces website, and more. Already under siege by the group was the official site of the Ministry of Education which came under attack early Sunday.The Anonymous group's took to their official OpIsrael Twitter account to send a personal message to members of Israel's government:"To the government of Israel: Welcome to the Hackintifada #FreePalestine."These statements follow an ongoing threat from Internet hackers belonging to the Anonymous group to launch a massive cyber-attack on Israel Sunday, which is Holocaust Memorial Day.
Nir Gaist, chief technology officer and founder of the Nyotron computer security firm, told The Jerusalem Post last week that the attack is not a national security issue, but called on home users to increase awareness, change passwords and not open strange or suspicious emails.To avoid Facebook viruses, users should be on the lookout for strange messages on the social networking site, or avoid going on it altogether for the next day or two.
