Cyber operations linked to Israel-Hamas fighting gain momentum | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amid a flurry of exaggerated claims of cyber attacks, experts caution that attacks on digital systems may intensify as the conflict drags on.\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyber-israel-hamas-gaza\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyber operations linked to Israel-Hamas fighting gain momentum\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amid a flurry of exaggerated claims of cyber attacks, experts caution that attacks on digital systems may intensify as the conflict drags on.\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyber-israel-hamas-gaza\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberScoop\"> <meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-24T21:18:18+00:00\"> <meta 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<button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.723404255319\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"31.235772357724\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/geopolitics\/\"> <span>Geopolitics<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Amid a flurry of exaggerated claims of cyber attacks, experts caution that attacks on digital systems may intensify as the conflict drags on. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> A Palestinian man walks amid the rubble of buildings hit in Israeli air strikes in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 24, 2023. (MAHMUD HAMS\/AFP via Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"48.58681925809\"><body readability=\"97.530137831722\"><\/p>\n<p>Roughly 11 days after Hamas launched a murderous attack on Israel, a message posted to a newly created Telegram channel claimed that the computer systems at Israel\u2019s Nevatim Air Force Base had been breached. <\/p>\n<p>What appeared to be a pro-Palestinian group claimed to have collected information about the facility\u2019s pilots, other personnel and their families. The message included screenshots and videos purportedly taken from security cameras near the base. \u201cYou will NOT be safe,\u201d a caption on one of the images read.<\/p>\n<p>After more than two weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas, claims such as these \u2014 which have not been verified \u2014 are becoming increasingly common as hacktivist groups step up their operations. Whether the attack against Nevatim actually took place remains unclear, but experts caution that a string of trivial attacks \u2014 and claims of far more serious ones \u2014 may portend more significant cyber operations as the conflict drags on. <\/p>\n<p>Over the past two weeks, hacktivist personas have focused on operations aimed at magnifying their perceived influence and shaping views of the war \u2014 activity that experts expect to intensify. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe can anticipate an escalating reliance on information operations aimed at influencing the global perception of the conflict, particularly within the complex geopolitical context of the region,\u201d Tom Hegel, the principal threat researcher at SentinelLabs, told CyberScoop. \u201cWe should expect state-sponsored threat actors to intensify their information operations through various means, including the manipulation of social media platforms, the creation of fictitious hacktivist groups, and the implementation of strategic campaigns designed to influence global media outlets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The message claiming responsibility for the attack on Nevatim was one among a series of claims made by hacktivist groups about the systems they have breached since the latest round of fighting kicked off earlier this month. Located in southern Israel, Nevatim is one of the country\u2019s largest air bases, regularly hosts American military assets and has taken delivery of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/israel-palestine\/2023\/10\/18\/more-us-ships-head-toward-israel-and-2000-troops-on-heightened-alert\/\">multiple American military aid shipments<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday, and it\u2019s not clear whether the group\u2019s claim is accurate. A breach of Nevatim\u2019s systems would amount to a major PR coup for Hamas-aligned hackers. <\/p>\n<p>These types of potentially explosive but hard to verify claims have become the stock-in-trade for hacktivist groups looking to influence the conflict. Over the weekend, a pro-Iran group claimed that it had accessed data on thousands of U.S. military, law enforcement and intelligence personnel in retaliation for U.S. support of Israel, and offered it for sale for roughly $2,000 in Bitcoin. A sample posted by the group included what appeared to be several dozen U.S. military members\u2019 IDs and associated paper work. <\/p>\n<p>A U.S. military spokesman did not return a request for comment, and a law enforcement official declined to comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Nariman Gharib, a U.K.-based Iranian opposition activist and independent cyber espionage researcher, told CyberScoop that Iranian hacking groups are \u201cconstantly targeting the west and Israel.\u201d Iran-linked personas, for example, have demonstrated <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/hack-and-leak-group-black-shadow-keeps-targeting-israeli-victims\/\">a willingness to terrorize average people<\/a> by stealing and posting personal data on sensitive matters such as sexual orientation and HIV status.<\/p>\n<p>The Middle East is fertile ground for hacking groups, and the recent history of cyber operations there is one reason why experts are so concerned that attacks on digital systems may escalate as the war between Israel and Hamas drags on. <\/p>\n<p>Groups thought to be associated with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran have been active for years, running operations ranging from cyber espionage and data theft to hack-and-leak operations, as well as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/6-facilities-said-hit-in-irans-cyberattack-on-israels-water-system-in-april\/\">targeting<\/a> of industrial control facilities, Hegel and Aleksandar Milenkoski, a senior threat researcher at SentinelLabs, wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sentinelone.com\/labs\/the-israel-hamas-war-cyber-domain-state-sponsored-activity-of-interest\/\">a compendium of regional players published Tuesday<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Cyber <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/predatory-sparrow-israel-gaza-cyber\/\">operations linked to Israel<\/a> have targeted Iranian government assets in embarrassing attacks that have shut off fuel distribution systems and damaged industrial facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Looking forward, Hegel and Milenkoski caution that state-backed hacking groups may use hacktivist groups as a front to obscure the origin of their attacks, and that Iranian hacking groups pose a particular threat. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe diversity and adaptability of Iranian cyber threat actors make them a significant and multifaceted component of the global threat landscape moving forward,\u201d the researchers wrote. \u201cIt is imperative to focus on Iran as a potential origin of both direct cyber offensive actions and proxy operations supported by Iran-linked groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"1.3179611650485\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"AJ Vicens\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by AJ Vicens<\/h4>\n<p> AJ covers nation-state threats and cybercrime. He was previously a reporter at Mother Jones. Get in touch via Signal\/WhatsApp: (810-206-9411). <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Technology<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to CyberScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cyber-israel-hamas-gaza\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cyber operations linked to Israel-Hamas fighting gain momentum | CyberScoop<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[302,353,1058,513,514],"tags":[306,357,1061,517,518],"class_list":["post-1928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitics","category-hacktivism","category-hamas","category-iran","category-israel","tag-geopolitics","tag-hacktivism","tag-hamas","tag-iran","tag-israel"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/geopolitics\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Geopolitics<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/hacktivism\/\" rel=\"category tag\">hacktivism<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/hamas\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Hamas<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/iran\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Iran<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/israel\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Israel<\/a>","tag_info":"Israel","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":1928,"date":"2023-10-24T21:18:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T21:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=77742"},"modified":"2023-10-24T21:18:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T21:18:18","slug":"cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2023\/10\/24\/cyber-operations-linked-to-israel-hamas-fighting-gain-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber operations linked to Israel-Hamas fighting gain momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"