The Anonymous hacker group has published a video claiming to have infiltrated Israel's military and stolen some of its "top secret" documents.
Two weeks after Israel's Justice Ministry admitted a cybersecurity breach that may have taken hundreds of gigabytes of data, the Anonymous hacker group claims to have hacked the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), a much more significant target.
On April 18, Anonymous posted a video on X stating, "Today we want to introduce their terrorist army to the world, after hacking their justice ministry.”
Given the nature of the fighting on the ground, the cyber aspect of the Gaza conflict has not garnered much attention. However, with the most recent escalation, Iran has come out from behind its proxies, and as a result, two of the most cyber-active nations in the world are now participating much more publicly. This includes unsubstantiated allegations made by an Iranian hacker group that they were able to break into Israeli radar systems.
In contrast, Israel possesses offensive cyber capabilities much beyond anything Iran can produce, despite Tehran's continuous efforts to improve its capabilities. As a result, there will likely be a digital uptick as the ballistic engagement winds down.
None of this is related to the more theatrical hacking charges levelled at Israel's military. Anonymous is best understood as an umbrella agenda, with self-proclaimed members starting and coordinating activities that are subsequently promoted. It would be incorrect to view this as a globally organised group with any sort of structure. The most recent claims appear to come from a pro-Palestinian group called Anonymous for Justice.
The Jerusalem Post adds that "according to IDF security assessments, the likelihood of an actual breach is minimal..." The IDF's computer system is highly secure and classified at multiple levels." According to the Post, if there was a breach, the material was most likely "obtained from civilian computers."
With a total of 20GB of data distributed across more than 230,000 files, the Anonymous video alleges that compromised material contains "the identity of the generals, military bases, military contracts and top secret projects." The hacking operation was "conducted with the assistance of certain freedom seekers from your army," the video further warns IDF.
