The Israeli Government announces it thwarted a major cyberattack

The Israeli Government announces it thwarted a major cyberattack against 120 targets just days after harsh criticism of new cyber defense bill.

According to haaretz.com, Israeli Government revealed it repelled a major cyberattack
aimed at 120 targets.

The unusual announcement was made by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a very unusual announcement on Wednesday. Israel speculates the involvement of a foreign state behind the major cyberattack that hit the in recent days.

“The notice from the PMO comes only two days after the heads of the Shin Bet security service, the Mossad and the IDF’s deputy chief of staff, along with other senior defense officials, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that the numerous powers given to the Cyber Defense Authority could hamper the ability to thwart cyber attacks on Israel.” states Haaretz.

The defense officials ask the Prime Minister to halt the legislation of the bill and to review it in order to propose a new version.

“The draft bill seeks to grant extensive powers to the Cyber Authority, whose purpose has not been clearly defined, and it could seriously harm the core security activity of the security community in the cyber field,” said the letter signed by Shin Bet security service head Nadav Argaman, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan (who is responsible for cyber defense issues in the army) and Defense Ministry Director General Udi Adam.

ity in the cyber field,” said the letter signed by Shin Bet security service head Nadav Argaman, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan (who is responsible for cyber defense issues in the army) and Defense Ministry Director General Udi Adam.

The Israeli Cyber Defense Authority was responsible for defending the country networks against the attacks, recently it warned the Government of a massive planned cyber attack on Israel.

According to the Cyber Defense Authority, hackers impersonated a legitimate unnamed organization is a spear phishing campaign.

The phishing messages were crafted pretending to be sent from the servers of an academic institution and private a company. The phishing emails reached 120 Israeli institutions, government offices, and individuals, attackers exploited weaponized documents trying to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft Word.

In response to the cyber attack, the Cyber Defense Authority issued directives for all Israeli citizens, businesses, and institutions, to instruct them on how to neutralize the attack and reduce the exposure to the cyber threats.

The criticized bill aims to regulate the activity of the Cyber Defense Authority, according to Buky Carmeli, the head of Authority, the law is on issuing protection guidelines to thousands of companies, organizations, and public agencies.

Carmeli says the diffusion of guidelines is crucial to protect the country from cyber attacks as well as to establish regulations for the cybersecurity and emergency management.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Israel, Cyber Defense Authority)

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