Last Updated on May 24, 2015

Jan 22: Middle East Cyber War Timeline Part I

Jan 29: Middle East Cyber War Timeline Part II

Feb 12: Middle East Cyber War Timeline Part IV

The more  I look inside the Middle East Cyber War between Israel and the Arab Hackers, the more I realize that it follows exactly the same shape than the real conflict.

In particular this last week has seen a strong reduction of the cyber events between the involved parties, although it is not clear if this was due to stronger cyber defenses enforced, or it was rather a kind of “calm before the storm”.

Among the reported events I considered particularly meaningful the attack of InLightPress, a Palestinian news website, of whom I did not find any other report except the one quoted in the Infographic which comes from a Pro-Israeli Website (this is the reason why this event must be considered with the necessary caution). Maybe it is not directly related to the Middle East Cyber War, anyway it looks like this attack was not originated by Israeli hackers, but had rather been “commissioned” by the Palestinian Authority. In the real world political parties or movement have different wings (typically hawks and doves), it looks like this is true for the cyber world as well. On the other hand, some believe that also the attack carried on last week against the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, considered close to Pro-Palestinian movements, has an internal origin, that maybe explains the subsequent excuses by the alleged authors of the attack (BTW at the above link there is an interesting list of the hack published in pastebin by the Israeli Hackers).

Do you believe the descending trend of the cyber events will be confirmed in the next period, or it is rather a temporary cyber truce before the digital storm?

1. http://www.israellycool.com/2012/01/30/mahmoud-abbas-launches-attack-against-inlightpress/
   
2. http://www.israellycool.com/2012/02/01/inlightpress-slams-mahmoud-abbas-over-hacking-attack/
   
3. http://pastebin.com/BBWw44kQ
   
4. http://pastebin.com/DvGebdhC
   
5. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/websites-of-2-palestinian-news-agencies-brought-down-by-cyber-attack/2012/01/31/gIQAcHVffQ_story.html
   
6. https://twitter.com/#!/_TeaMp0isoN/status/164895749627318272
   
7. http://pastebin.com/mMZiEekm
   
8. http://pastebin.com/KEELtb6c