Israel says it weathers cyber attack campaign

Tuesday, 9 April 2013 00:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

REUTERS: A pro-Palestinian cyber attack campaign was launched against Israeli government websites on Sunday but did not cause serious disruption, an Israeli statement said.

Over the weekend, email messages and websites using the name of the ‘Anonymous’ hacking group said a campaign had been launched in solidarity with the Palestinian people to “erase Israel from cyberspace” on Sunday.

“As of midday, Israeli government websites are accessible to the public, as they were for the entire weekend,” a Treasury Ministry statement said.

Attempts by Reuters in Jerusalem to access the websites of Israeli government ministries, the police and central statistics bureau were successful. Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, who founded the government’s Cyber Bureau two years ago, told Israel Radio there had been some disruptions to several websites, such as the Education Ministry, whose security protocols had yet to be updated.

The Cyber Bureau was established to ward off hacking attacks on Israel’s key networks.

“They have not managed to disrupt even one website that has been protected (by the bureau); the really important sites,” Ben Yisrael said.

The statement issued by the Treasury said the Education Ministry’s website had not been accessible during the weekend due a “technical fault”.

The website was back on line on Sunday afternoon.