A hacker group called “The Generous Thief” claimed on Monday that it had stolen the data of millions of former and current Israeli students and teachers, providing Excel files with addresses, ID numbers, emails and more.
The Generous Thief appeared to offer the data for sale, stating that people interested in accessing the stolen data should send them a message.
The hacker group presented itself as a group acting in protest against what it called “the dirty government” of Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Despite the claim, the channel is written in broken Hebrew, raising suspicions that the hackers are not Israeli.
CET confirms 'cyber incident' hit systems
The Center for Educational Technology (CET) confirmed to Israeli media that it had found “indications of a cyber incident” on its systems and was handling the situation in coordination with the National Cyber Directorate.
The company stressed that its systems were still working and that there were no indications as of yet that any information was stolen. “We note that the network is saturated with disinformation and fake news in light of the desire to deepen the disruption of studies,” it said.
Cyber attacks against educational institutions on the rise
A report by the cybersecurity company Sophos in August found that most educational institutions – primary schools, secondary schools and colleges – are increasingly affected by ransomware, with 60% of institutions attacked in 2021 compared to 44% in 2020.