Hackers infiltrated Israeli smart billboards to post pro-Hamas messages, reports say
- Two billboards near Tel Aviv were hacked and made to show pro-Hamas messages.
- Images on social media showed billboards displaying images of Hamas soldiers and rocket attacks.
Hackers took over two Israeli smart billboards and used them to broadcast pro-Hamas messages, reports said.
The billboards in the region of Tel Aviv were hijacked for a brief period on Thursday, CNBC reported.
Israel has seen a surge in cyberattacks since Hamas launched a series of attacks on the country.
Video footage posted to X showed one of the billboards displaying a montage of the Palestinian flag, along with images of Hamas soldiers, rocket attacks, and a burning Israeli flag.
Hackers "managed to switch the commercials into anti-Israeli, pro-Hamas footage," Gil Messing, chief of staff at Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies, told CNBC.
He said that the digital incursion was "very marginal ... when you compare it to everything else that's been going on here," and that hackers were aiming to create "fear and discomfort" among the Israeli population.
Check Point also told The Wall Street Journal that it had received reports of Israelis being sent threatening texts and WhatsApp messages from numbers in Yemen and Afghanistan. It comes after parents in Tel Aviv were warned to delete social-media apps from their children's phones over fears that Hamas could broadcast videos of hostages.
Many of the recent cyberattacks have come from Russian-backed groups, Bloomberg reported. Anonymous Sudan, a hacking group believed to be a front for Russian hackers, claimed responsibility for briefly taking down the website of The Jerusalem Post on Monday, Bloomberg reported, citing screenshots.
The "hacktivist" group AnonGhost, meanwhile, hacked a missile-alert app and sent a series of fake notifications, including "death to Israel'' and a swastika, cybersecurity firm Group-IB told Bloomberg.
Israel has told 1.1 million people in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours, as it masses troops ahead of an expected ground offensive.
"Israel is suffering the painful outcomes of the murderous terrorism, and our hearts go out to the families. Israel is at war to restore security and undermine the terrorists' military and governmental capabilities in Gaza. We are ready on other fronts as well and are responding forcefully to anyone trying to attack our sovereignty," said a spokesperson for Israel's National Cyber Directorate.
"In general, in the cyberspace so far, we have observed mainly 'low-impact' or 'fake' attacks that don't cause major damage to networks or compromise critical infrastructure," he added.