Anonymous Sudan Claims Responsibility for Hacking Israeli Rocket Warning Systems, Threatens Further Attacks.
The hacker group Anonymous Sudan announced on Tuesday that it successfully infiltrated Israeli rocket warning systems, including those for the Iron Dome, amidst a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.
The group warned that it would repeat these actions if more rockets were launched.
Anonymous Sudan shared on its Telegram channel that it had successfully taken down the websites of rocket warning services Cumta, Red Alert, Halamish, and Evigilo while also targeting some of their smartphone apps.
At the time of writing, all four sites remain offline, although smartphone apps appear to be functional.
The hacker group further claimed that it had disrupted so many alert systems that the Iron Dome, Israel's primary air defense system, was not receiving its full alerts, preventing it from intercepting all incoming rockets.
A total of 22 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, with only four intercepted, 16 landing in open fields, and two striking an urban area. Army Radio reported that the Iron Dome's success rate for the day was around 71%, significantly lower than its usual 90-95% rate.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is currently investigating the reasons for this decrease in performance.
Anonymous Sudan attributed the Iron Dome's poor performance to its successful hacking efforts, explaining that the only reason four rockets were intercepted at all was that the group was slightly late in its attack.
The group emphasized the unprecedented nature of this event, stating that never before in the history of the Iron Dome has such a large proportion of missiles been allowed to enter.
During the 2021 Israel-Hamas clashes known as Operation Guardian of the Walls, several rockets managed to penetrate the Iron Dome's security web. However, experts attributed this to the sheer number of rockets fired overwhelming the system rather than cyberwarfare.
While the exact success rate of the Iron Dome in this recent rocket barrage is unclear, at least two rockets struck the urban area of Sderot. Anonymous Sudan has vowed to attack Israel's warning systems again if more rockets are fired.
During Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security meeting, another rocket was fired into Israel from Gaza, landing in an open field. Apart from a notification in the Home Front Command app, none of the other warning systems issued rocket alerts.
Anonymous Sudan issued an apology for the recent cyberattack, citing the weak internet in Sudan and a significant amount of outage as reasons for the delay in their attack.
The group also stated that it is working on more attacks on Israel's internet, claiming that they have achieved success thus far and that disturbances in the internet have been reported. Anonymous Sudan warned that an internet outage could occur at any moment.
Anonymous Sudan is a hacker group that has claimed responsibility for several notable cyberattacks against Israel in recent months. The group has targeted a wide range of Israeli institutions and organizations, from power outages to cyberattacks on banks and news sites.
