Hacker Group Instigates Attacks on Israel's Cyber Resources

The notorious hacker group Anonymous is urging fellow online disruptors to attack Israel-based Internet resources to protest the country's ongoing operation in Gaza.

The @AnonGhost Team Twitter profile picture shows a cartoon soldier wearing a "Save Gaza" shirt and the group's logo, shielding a crying Palestinian. (Image via @AnonGhostTeam via Twitter)

"We've been fighting Israel and their terrorist state for over four years, and we have not grown weary or tired. It has only made us stronger," the group said in a message posted online. "Therefore, we are calling upon the Anonymous collective, and the elite hacker groups to join our crusade, and to wage cyber war against the state of Israel once more. This Friday will be a day Israel will feel fear tingling in their servers, and homes. It will be a day of solidarity and resistance."

An Anonymous representative told Russia Today that the collective has taken down “thousands” of Israeli-based websites in past attacks. The International Business Times reported last week that "Anonymous … [coordinated] a huge new coordinated cyber-attack called #OpSaveGaza on 11 July and 17 July, in support of the people of Palestine."

BREAKING NEWS: #OpSaveGaza The Biggest Bank System in Israel Has Been Hacked By AnonGhost Team الحمد لله pic.twitter.com/PO9GAgJ192

— AnonGhost Team (@AnonGhostTeam)

July 23, 2014

The hacker group recognizes that Israeli has prioritized cyber capabilities and is a major player in the computer security world; exports of cyber-related products and services from Israel last year reached $3 billion, nearly 5 percent of the global market and more than all other nations combined apart from the United States, according to Defense News.

“As far as industry goes, Israel is a superpower indeed,” Tal Steinherz, chief technology officer for Israel's National Cyber Bureau, told participants at a conference in June.

The NCB, Israel's 3-year-old cyberagency, was established to reinforce Israel's stance as a cyber leader. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it "a personal and national goal to elevate Israel’s status as a global cyberpower," according to Defense News. Since he established the NCB in 2011, Israel has augmented annual cyberdefense spending by 30 percent, despite a budget crisis.

"As a collective 'Anonymous' does not hate Israel, it hates that Israel's government is committing genocide & slaughtering unarmed people in Gaza to obtain more land at the border," an Anonymous representative told Mother Jones.

A tweet from @YourAnonNews posted Tuesday read, "Israel has no legitimacy."

The NCB did not immediately comment on the latest Anonymous threat.

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