Hackers infiltrate Finance Ministry computers

The Finance Ministry discovered Thursday that hackers infiltrated and planted a virus in the ministry’s computer network.

The virus, of a type known as a cryptolocker, which encrypts files and demands ransom for their release, was found during routine inspections of the ministry’s network.

Ministry tech workers dealt with the hack and said that there was no damage to the network, Channel 2 reported.

While the motive behind the hack was likely criminals attempting extortion, it served as a warning, because with equal ease enemy hackers could also infiltrate government networks.

Over the last two years, Israel has been targeted by a number of cyber-attacks. Officials say hackers affiliated with Hezbollah and the Iranian government were behind some of the infiltration attempts.

Earlier this week, it was reported that a cyber-hacker working for Iran hacked the computer of a former IDF chief-of-staff and gained access to the unnamed general’s entire computer database.

The hacker was named by Channel 10 as Yaser Balaghi. He was said to have subsequently bragged about the hack, but he also inadvertently left behind a means to trace his identity. That error prompted Iran to halt the hacking operation, which targeted 1,800 people worldwide, including Israeli army generals, human rights activists in the Persian Gulf and scientists.

Also in late January, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz revealed that Israel’s Electric Authority was being targeted by a “severe cyber-attack,” although he did not say where it was coming from.

In June, the Israeli ClearSky cyber-security company said it had discovered an ongoing wave of cyber attacks originating from Iran on targets in Israel and the Middle East, with Israeli generals again among the targets. The goal is “espionage or other nation-state interests,” the firm said.