The Jerusalem Post, a major Israeli media outlet, was hit by a cyberattack and taken down by the hacker group Anonymous Sudan. The Jerusalem Post cyber attack is the newest after Anonymous Sudan’s slew of cyber attacks against Israel.
Most recently, Anonymous Sudan claimed a series of attacks on Israel Airlines—Arkia Israeli Airlines, Israir, Ayeet Aviation and Tourism, and Cargo Airline.
While the details of the airline attacks are yet to be confirmed, the website of The Jerusalem Post was inaccessible at the time of writing.
The Jerusalem Post cyber attack and Israel Implications
The group has been known to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on the Israeli government and military websites in the past.
However, the Jerusalem Post cyber attack marks a new target for the group, which has claimed to have launched the attack on the media outlet, a retaliation toward on “Israel did to Palestine.”
The Jerusalem Post cyber attack and Anonymous Sudan
As mentioned before, The Jerusalem Post cyberattack is not the first time Anonymous Sudan has targeted Israeli institutions over reasons that are political and religious.
Recently, Anonymous Sudan launched a cyberattack campaign against various French national institutions. The group has been labeled “pro-Russian” due to its alleged connections to the Russian government.
Anonymous Sudan vs France
The campaign began on March 15, 2023, when the group targeted several French airports, healthcare facilities, and university institutions.
The attacks primarily involved DDoS attacks that aimed to overwhelm and take the systems offline.
While the attacks caused little harm, they were meant to be symbolic and drew the attention of the French intelligence agency.
The General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) has launched an investigation into the matter, and the justice system was alerted.
The French authorities took the threat seriously and worked to identify the perpetrators of the attacks.
The claims made by Anonymous Sudan are alarming, particularly given the numerous terrorist attacks that have taken place in France over the past decade.
The group’s assertion that the target of their operation France due to the Charlie Hebdo cartoons is troubling, as it suggests that they are willing to use violence and intimidation to suppress freedom of expression.
However, it is also possible that these attacks are linked to France’s support for Ukraine, which Anonymous Sudan opposes.
The group has direct ties to the primary Russian hacktivist collective, Killnet, which the Russian government backs.
On the contrary, Anonymous Sudan stated that they were not concerned with France’s support for Ukraine and that they were willing to collaborate with Killnet in the event of an attack.
This raises the possibility that the group’s attacks are part of a larger campaign of state-sponsored cyber warfare, designed to intimidate and undermine countries that oppose Russian interests.
Despite their claims of stealing sensitive information from Air France, the airline’s press office stated that no significant activity was detected that could have compromised their data.
Anonymous Sudan vs Rest of the world
Prior to that, the group claimed responsibility for cyberattacks on Swedish healthcare infrastructure and educational institutions.
Most importantly the group came to fore, after it claimed to launch a series of DDoS attack all major American corporate giants including Pay Pal, American Express, and Microsoft, well as the US Department of Defense.
While the group has previously targeted Israeli government and military websites, this attack on a major media outlet, The Jerusalem Post cyber attack, is a significant escalation.
The threat posed by groups like Anonymous Sudan is real, and governments and institutions must take all necessary measures to protect themselves against cyber attacks.
