Justice Ministry reviewing ‘cyber incident’ after hacktivists claim breach
Group protesting Gaza war says it retrieved hundreds of gigabytes of data, publishes what it calls confidential documents; ministry says operations remained uninterrupted
The Justice Ministry said it was looking into a “cyber incident” on Friday after activist hackers protesting against the war in Gaza said they managed to breach the ministry’s servers and retrieve hundreds of gigabytes of data.
“Since the morning hours, experts at the ministry and elsewhere have been looking into the incident and its implications,” the ministry said on social media platform X.
“The scope of the materials is still under review and it will take time to examine the content and scope of the documents that were leaked and their sources.”
A group called Anonymous for Justice claimed responsibility for the breach, which it said included the retrieval of nearly 300 gigabytes of data. On its website, the group said it would continue attacking Israel “until the war in Gaza stops.”
The group published files that it said it obtained in the breach such as legal documents, including drafts of bilateral agreements and contracts marked as confidential.
Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the leaked documents.
The Justice Ministry said in its post that it had prepared in advance for such a scenario and that its operations remained uninterrupted.
The National Cyber Directorate said earlier this week it was expecting an increase in attempts at cyberattacks over the weekend for Iran’s annual Quds Day, which uses the Arabic name for Jerusalem, held on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
This year, the day was marked amid the Gaza war that has heightened regional tensions.
The war began on October 7 after a Hamas onslaught on southern Israel killed some 1,200 people and 253 people seized as hostages.
Since the start of the war, more than 33,091 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. These figures can not be verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Israel says it has killed more than 13,000 terrorists in Gaza and another 1,000 inside Israel on October 7.
