A recent surge in cybersecurity breaches, famously termed “Cyber Flood of Al-Aqsa”, has seen sensitive data of millions of Israelis released daily on the Telegram social network. Radware, an Israeli cybersecurity company, and its client, Signature-IT, have been the latest victims, with most of the leaked information coming from Signature-IT.Cyber Flood of Al-Aqsa
According to Ctech, a technology-focused website, the breaches were orchestrated by the newly formed politically motivated group “Cyber Flood of Al-Aqsa”, established on November 18. This group appears to be inspired by the recent operation by Hamas, known as “Al-Aqsa’s Flood”.
In the past week, the group has distributed sensitive information related to Israelis linked to Signature-IT’s clients, including Max Security (a cybersecurity and geo-intelligence firm), the Israeli Innovation Authority, the Israeli National Archives, and Shefa Online, an Israel-based service used by IKEA, as well as Radware itself.
The group has announced a temporary halt to its data dumping operations in line with a planned ceasefire, but the extent of the collected data and the duration of its potential release if hostilities resume remains unknown. The leaked information encompasses emails, phone numbers, names, and business interactions but does not include credit card or banking details.
Gil Messing from Check Point, a firm specializing in information security, highlighted a significant rise in cyberattacks against Israel. While the Israeli military is engaged in ground conflicts with the Al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, Israel faces an increasing number of cyberattacks impacting its digital infrastructure. Messing warns of an imminent and escalating cyber war.
Messing reported a 22% increase in total attacks on Israeli targets since the onset of the war following the October 7 attack on Israel. These include ransomware attacks, assaults on mobile devices, and a rise in attacks on Internet of Things devices like security cameras and other internet-connected elements.
Check Point is assisting clients in Israel and globally to minimize the impact of these attacks. Ronen Ahudot, Chief of Attack Monitoring and Management at Cynet Security, an Israeli firm, noted a rise in preparedness for cyberattacks as people have more time to learn new skills, partly influenced by the pandemic.
For now, data dumps from Radware’s programs will continue in some form outside the stated ceasefire periods. Already leaked information could be reused or exploited in other ways, such as selling sensitive details that could cause severe damage in other areas.
Ahudot emphasizes that Israel is in the midst of a real electronic war, with daily leaks being just one example of the broader conflict , Cyber Flood of Al-Aqsa
