Iranian cyber-attack against Israel reveals data on 100 members of the Defence Forces

A cyber-attack on Tuesday affected the Israeli defence ministry's computer systems, according to local media reports. A group of Iranian-linked hackers leaked a flood of data belonging to at least a hundred members of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). "The hackers have published files and information containing the data of hundreds of soldiers and pre-military high school students that were stolen from defence ministry computers," the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported.

"Among other things, a file has been published detailing the combat brigade's forces, soldiers' names, locations and training," the newspaper added. According to this version, the file reportedly includes the names, email addresses, telephone numbers and residential addresses of hundreds of soldiers. And not only of members of the corps, but also of candidates aspiring to join it.

This attack came a day after the publication of a series of images of Defence Minister Benny Gantz. In one of the leaked snapshots, the former Israeli general was shown pretending to milk a statue of a cow. The photograph was intended to deliberately damage the image of the former army chief of staff. However, the hacking has not yet been reported by the ministry.

The authorities do not know who was behind the attack, according to local media. However, they suspect an organisation calling itself "The General Staff of Moses", a group linked to the Tehran regime, of publishing the information on the Dark Web, a network that requires prior authorisation and is not indexed by search engines. In response to the cyber-attack, the National Cybersecurity Directorate asked the different governmental organisations to apply the appropriate updates to shield their systems.

Israeli authorities have received a message from the group, addressed to Gantz himself, threatening the minister that they know "every decision you make and we will hit you where you least expect it". "We have secret defence ministry documents, operational military maps and troop deployment information and we will publish your crimes to the world," the letter said.

Microsoft, which protects Israeli systems, said that the usual targets of cyber attacks are defence companies with close ties not only to Israel, but also to the US and the European Union, which develop military technology, satellite and communication systems. The tech giant added that the latest recorded attacks use the same modus operandi as previous attacks executed by Iranian hackers.

In recent months, Israel has recorded an extensive list of cyber-attacks. So much so that the Jewish state ranks seventh on the list of countries attacked in cyberspace, and the offensives show no sign of ending. However, beyond the public sector, it is the private sector that concentrates this type of action. This is a field in which Tehran operates with ease and where the Islamic Republic is most comfortable.