Israeli Websites Hit by a Large-Scale Cyberattack
An Israeli telecom provider was hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, which in turn took down multiple government websites on Monday, March 14.
The Israeli Websites were Affected by a Large-Scale DDoS Attack
The attack was confirmed by the country's National Cyber Directorate - the governing body responsible for all aspects of cyber defense and security in Israel. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz called the incident the "largest-ever" cyberattack carried out against the country.
The affected websites were brought back online quickly, but a significant number of them were affected, including the sites of the Ministries of Health, Justice and Interior Affairs. The Prime Minister's office Web page was inaccessible as well.
Israeli authorities have pinned down the attack as a "large-scale" DDoS that took place Monday evening, local time, and targeted government websites specifically. However, it did not tackle those targets one by one. Instead, the attackers focused on a communication service provider entity that had a domino effect on the websites in question.
Israel's National Cyber Directorate briefly declared a state of emergency, while it was still busy assessing the exact nature and scope of the attack and making sure websites and services related to critical infrastructures, such as electricity and water supply were not affected.
A State-Backed Threat Actor is Suspected to be behind the Attack
The party that was behind the attack is still unknown, and Israeli authorities have not made any assumptions or suggestions on this front. All that was stated officially, was that it is believed the threat actor is a state-sponsored one.
Israel's stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine, or rather Israel's unwillingness to join western sanctions, may have raised a few eyebrows recently, especially with reports of Russian oligarch private airplanes landing in the country. However, the country's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid stated that Israel will not become "a route to bypass sanctions" imposed by the western world.