Hacktivist attacks have increased as the conflict between Israel and Palestine escalated this weekend following Hamas’s attack on Israel-occupied land.

According to officials, about 700 Israelis were killed as part of the attacks, and 150 were taken hostage. Since this Saturday, 511 people were killed by the Israelis on the Gaza strip, and Palestinians had already counted 227 casualties just this year, according to the most recent figures from the United Nations.

According to a report from The Cyber Express, there are about 35 pro-Palestine hacking groups participating in the conflict, and about four which are pro-Israel.

Russian-based Killnet, one of the most infamous hacktivist groups on the modern landscape, has already focused efforts against Israeli institutions, announcing the following on its Telegram channel:

“Government of Israel, you are to blame for this bloodshed. Back in 2022, you supported the terrorist regime of Ukraine. You betrayed Russia. Today Killnet officially informs you about it! All Israeli government systems will be subject to our attacks.”

It has said that it would only target the Israeli government, rallying against the targeting of civilians. The gang has teamed up with Usersec, another pro-Russian gang, to deface Israeli websites.

Another group, Anonymous Sudan, which experts believe is also linked to the Russian government, has pledged its loyalty to the Palestinians, and already claimed an attack on an Israeli newspaper, the Jerusalem Post. The website is currently functional, but reportedly down earlier today.

Indian Cyber Force, which is aligned with the Indian government, has claimed an attack on the Palestine Web Mail government services, while other Indian-aligned groups such as Mysterious Team Bangladesh and Team Insane, have pledged to disrupt Israeli institutions.

New groups appear to have emerged out of the rising conflict, such as the new group Libyan Ghosts which claims to target smaller Israeli websites.

But the hacktivist groups did not just start with the new rise in violence. Microsoft’s Digital Defence Report 2023 reported a tide of activity from a Gaza-based hacktivist group called Storm-113, which targeted Israeli private sector infrastructure groups.

The report said that this group worked to support Hamas, the dominate political party and militant group in the Gaza strip. “Targets have included organizations in the Israeli energy and defence sectors and entities loyal to Fatah, the dominant Palestinian political faction in the West Bank, which were historically targets of Hamas cyberattacks.”

Further, it was found that Israel’s Education Ministry and Ministry of Foreign affairs was shut down by a group called ‘Ghosts of Palestine.’

Recommended reading

• Report: Cyber-attacks Against Governments are on the Rise in 2023
• Old vs New: The Cyber-threat Landscape in 2023
• Anonymous Sudan and Killnet Strike Again, EIB Confirms Cyber Attack

Some of the hacktivist groups have also targeted supporters of Israel, with Sylhet Gang-SG attempting a distributed denial of service (DDoS) on a Ukrainian site in retaliation to the country’s support for Israel.

A Timeline of Known Cyber Events

On LinkedIn, a harrowing timeline of the cyber-attacks and the violence which took place on 6, 7, and 8 October was documented, highlighting the interconnection between in-person and cyber warfare.

Before the violence erupted, an Iranian-linked hacktivist group Cyber Av3ngers took credit for compromising the Noga Independent Systems Operator networks, which manages some of Israel’s electricity. It was most likely a DDoS attack based on a screenshot of the attack.

On 7 October, air raid sirens rang out across central and Southern Israel alerting residents to the start of a mass of rockets from Hamas.

Anonymous Sudan launched an DDoS attack against some of Israel’s alert applications less than ten minutes prior to Israeli defences confirming Hamas fighters had crossed the boarder and entered Israel. After this, Anonymous Sudan claimed to have taken down all of Israel’s alert applications.

After Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel announced that Israel was now at war following Hama’s taking of hostages, Israel struck 21 buildings they claimed housed Hamas, though civilians did suffer as a result of the bombings.

In the same day, Anonymous Sudan took down the Jerusalem Post in a DDS attack, and the Cyber Av3ngers took the Israel Electric Corporation offline. Anonymous Sudan also announced they were targeting more of Israel’s alert systems, including the Iron Dome, an Israeli in-air missile defence system.

On 8 October, ThreatSec, which is currently not known to be affiliated with any particular nation-state, compromised AlfaNet Palestine, which they said provides the service for over 500 services across the Gaza strip.

Cyber Av3ngers claimed to compromise a power plant, and leaked confidential documents on the same day. Killnet took responsibility for the Government of Israel and the Discount Bank Isreal’s websites being down.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has drastically escalated, with Hamas’s assault on Israeli occupied territory. Israel’s continued expansion into Palestinian land and the actions of its settlers, as well as government initiatives restricting the movement of Palestinians and the killing of civilians, serves as a backdrop to this heightened period of violent conflict.

Just as in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it appears modern warfare escalates in real life and online in conjunction.