Tehran - BORNA - The Wall Street Journal reported that while the Zionist regime enforces high cybersecurity standards for critical infrastructure, such as power utilities, these requirements do not extend to less vital entities like hospitals, which have fallen victim to several breaches. Current and former experts suggest that Israel could better protect itself if the Knesset passed a comprehensive cyber law to expand regulations beyond critical infrastructure and clearly define oversight responsibilities.
Analysts noted that these attacks have primarily focused on leaking documents through publicly known vulnerabilities, which are exploited by scanning computer networks or launching classic phishing campaigns. The repeated nature of these relatively simple attacks has significantly increased their success rate. According to the report, hacker groups allegedly linked to Iran have leaked hundreds of thousands of internal emails and documents from government entities over the past two years.
Some of the most sensitive incidents involved data leaks from the Israel National Defense College, where hackers published the passport information of Israeli generals and officials online. Other breaches included over 15 years of internal documents and emails from the Ministry of Justice, as well as firearm permit applications from the Ministry of National Security, which contained applicants' military records.
The American newspaper highlighted the irony of these vulnerabilities, given Israel’s famous role in advanced cyber warfare, such as the Stuxnet virus—a joint project with the U.S. against an Iranian enrichment facility. While Israeli firms export advanced cyber weapons like NSO's Pegasus and the military’s Unit 8200 is renowned for its electronic capabilities, these recent infiltrations have caused significant embarrassment within occupied territories.
Just last week, the hacking group "Hanzala," which the Wall Street Journal claims is linked to Iran, leaked sensitive personal data belonging to former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, including his contact lists and Telegram messages. Experts pointed out that while dozens of entities are designated as critical infrastructure and are relatively well-protected, organizations like hospitals are not legally required to adopt cybersecurity measures, leaving no legal recourse for penalties if they fail to do so.
During the war in Gaza, several Israeli hospitals, including the Ziv Medical Center in northern Israel which treated soldiers, experienced online data leaks. Analysts said that such personal data breaches have been used to publish the identifiable information of residents across the occupied lands.
The report also cited Amazon’s cyber threat unit, claiming that in a more strategically significant attack last June, hackers infiltrated CCTV cameras to provide real-time visual information about targets. Furthermore, the head of Israel's National Cyber Directorate claimed this month that security cameras were breached to record the impact of a missile strike against the Weizmann Institute of Science. Ari Ben Am, an associate at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), noted that Iran has become a key player in global cyber warfare, investing heavily in specialized training to improve the quality and technological capabilities of its personnel.
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