Are you Ready for OpIsrael 2020?

In the next few days and throughout April, Israeli is expected to be under cyber-attacks from different cyber groups, associated with or sympathetic to the Palestinian struggle against Israel. It’s a ritual that has been happening since 2013.

OpIsrael is the name for the attack that occurred on Holocaust Day, April 7, 2013. The Anonymous and AnonGhost hackers allegedly participated in such cyberattacks in previous years.

The point of these attacks is to generate fear and a sense of lack of control among the citizens of Israel, the news, and media, and to promote violent calls for action against Israel and the occupation of Palestinian. OpIsrael mainly targets government websites and services to wreak havoc and damage. But these attacks also try to target civilians by stealing their private information, such as passwords, cards, ID numbers, financial data, and digital files. In previous attacks, OpIsrael hackers published leaked private information, and spread spam using phishing techniques and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) attacks.

The hackers usually prepare for these annual attacks (2022 will be the eighth consecutive year) by seeking opportunities and security sensitivities that they can manipulate. The cyber protection unit in the Israeli government is aware and proactive in preparing for the annual attack and issues a warning to all government employees and offices. This leaves small businesses and organizations the primary target for hackers.

How your business or organization can stay safe

During these attacks, small businesses might encounter data leakage, have their reputation damaged, or be exposed to penalties if sensitive information was illegally stored.

To prevent data from being leaked, it is essential to verify what information is stored. If such data is obsolete or not necessary, it might be wise to delete it. Holding unnecessary data is like storing diamonds in your drawer; if someone takes it, it can be very costly.

Next, we have website defacement. Website defacement is probably the most common attack on small businesses during OpIsrael. Your company website, where most customers go to order your goods, will no longer be the website you know. When…