The #OpIsrael campaign continues!
Cyble Research & Intelligence Labs found evidence of the exploitation of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) devices in the wake of the Al-Aqsa Mosque violence.
The Anonymous group announced its return with the anti-Israel campaign, OpIsrael.
The exploitation of Industrial Control Systems as part of the OpIsrael campaign also marks its 10 anniversary of targeting entities showing a lack of support for Palestine.
What the Anonymous group did
Along with Anonymous, other hacktivist groups went on a campaign to dismantle the critical infrastructure belonging to Israel, including Anonymous Sudan.
Anonymous Sudan launched cyberattacks on Israel’s postal agency, agriculture sector, telecom industries, and banking websites among others.
CRIL researchers found that hacktivists groups launched cyberattacks against organizations that rely on the operations related to motors, valves, pumps, and other ICS components. Such attacks could cause heavy losses to a nation’s productivity and natural resources.
How exploitation of Industrial Control Systems in OpIsrael campaign took place
These continued attacks on the industrial control systems can cause long-term damage to crop yields, water plants, power grids, transportation of goods, and other critical infrastructure.
It is speculated that hacktivists were successful in OpIsrael campaign by misusing default credentials and unpatched software among the easily avoidable cybersecurity measures missed out by the target.
A major reason behind the ongoing exploitation of Industrial Control Systems in the OpIsrael campaign was the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli army and police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque two days prior to the culmination of the holy month of Ramadan. They entered the Dome of the Rock Courtyard in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and removed the Palestinian flags, according to an Arab News report.
They then re-entered the Mosque to take away the flags and did other activities that escalate the tension between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and people.
This triggered the hacktivist groups to take the incident further by disrupting critical infrastructure services of Israel that could delay critical work impacting people and sectors at large.
Aftermath of the exploitation of Industrial Control Systems in OpIsrael campaign
It is clear that the numerous cyberattacks on Israel has created tensions in the middle of the Palestinian elections. DDoS attacks, database dumps and GNSS attacks have been recorded in Israel so far.
Targeting the Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can lead to miscalculated results in terms of area, region, positioning, velocity, and timing leading to missing incoming threats such as drones.
About ten water controls in agricultural districts were affected on April 9, this year.
Moreover, the ongoing exploitation of the Industrial Control Systems in the OpIsrael campaign has led about 10 farmers in the northern region of Israel to lose control of the irrigation systems.