"Irrigation Systems in Israel Hit With Cyber Attack That Temporarily Disabled Farm Equipment"
The cyberattack that targeted irrigation systems in Israel is suspected to be part of an annual "hacktivist" campaign. The hackers targeted farms and water treatment facilities. A dozen farms failed to heed a warning from the National Cyber Directorate to disable certain remote connections before the hacking campaign struck. There was a temporary deactivation of automated irrigation systems. The cyberattack is part of an annual campaign called "OpIsrael," which targets the country in April with Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks and attempted breaches. The campaign was initiated in 2013 by hackers operating under the banner of Anonymous. It has never been attributed to a specific group or country, but it has always conveyed pro-Palestinian sentiment and has been praised by Hamas spokespersons. The cyberattack campaign appears to present new targets of opportunity each year. This year, the threat actors have focused on irrigation systems. The Galil Sewage Corporation was one of the targeted wastewater processors that was compromised, and the company reports that the cyberattack affected several controllers for about one day and disrupted some treatment processes. This article continues to discuss the OpIsrael campaign and its recent targets.