A group of hackers attempted to break into the city of Haifa's water system computer network, according to an Israeli security expert.
From the AP via
ABC News:
Speaking at a lecture on Saturday in the southern city of Beersheba, Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, Israel's former cyber security adviser, said that a group calling itself "The Syrian Electronic Army" had launched the failed attack two weeks ago.
The Syrian Electronic Army however, maintains that it succeeded in infiltrating the network, in response to recent Israeli strikes.
In an
email to Softpedia, the group stated:
“We would like to announce that in response to the unfair and illegal attacks, taken place by Israel on DATE, SEA has penetrated one of the main infrastructural systems (SCADA) in Haifa and managed to gain access to some sensitive data. Also SEA is now able to cause irrecoverable damages to the Israeli's infrastructural systems,” the hackers said.
The breach comes in response to the recent Israeli strike on a Damascus research center.
“This message carries a serious caution to the Israeli statesmen. They should know that not receiving a quick reaction to such childish ventures, does not show the Syrian inability in doing so, but it is based on wisdom and humanity considerations. We do not approve of killing civilians and innocent people as this is an Israeli type of solution instead,” they added.
“Also an advise to those who left their homelands for many years, dreaming a happy and safe life, deceived by politicians whose deed is much far than their slogans; Do the best to express your objections to Israeli policies, since we do not like to see innocent people getting killed in Texas, US, but this time in Haifa.”
To demonstrate their attack, the hackers published a PDF file that contains screenshots of what appear to be SCADA control panels.
This news also comes on the heels of yet another #OpIsrael campaign, in which a variety of hackers claiming association to the Anonymous collective targeted various Israeli government websites. Like
its predecessor, the recent campaign also largely failed, with little damage to any major websites and only some minor defacements to a number of seemingly random small businesses and organizations.
A group of pro-Israel hackers claimed to have recently
unmasked several of the individuals behind the latest #OpIsrael attacks. Given that Anonymous is a leaderless movement, it is entirely possible that the actions of that particular group were a rogue operation conducted while hiding behind the banner of Anonymous. There is no known association of any of those to the Syrian Electronic Army.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Electronic Army has also been busy
hijacking the accounts of news outlets, most recently that of
ITV News on Friday.
While the SEA's selection of targets and its messaging, which usually consists of odd jokes mixed in with pro-Assad political propaganda, may seem like nothing more than "lulz" to some, there is a more serious side to the group's actions.
