Officials in Israel believe that Hamas may have paid for the cyber attack that struck Israel’s internet infrastructure in January, during Operation Cast Lead, briefly halting government websites officials reported, quoted by the daily Haaretz.

It appears that at least 500,000 computers took part in the hacking attack, bearing a great similarity to the attack launched last year on Georgia on the eve of the war with Russia. This leads officials here to believe the same criminals are responsible for the attack on Israel, possibly hired by Hamas.

While most of the sites were only down for 30 minutes or less, hardest hit was the IDF’s Homefront Command site, which did not fully recover for a number of hours. This site is especially important since it relays information and emergency instructions to residents around Israel.

In line with the report, the new administration is addressing cyber security on a level never undertaken in Israel with the realization that in today’s world, a successful major cyber attack could have a devastating impact on the nation.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)