A wave of attempted cyber-attacks targeting Israeli hospitals & health centres were defeated over the weekend, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate & Israeli Health Ministry announced on Sun.
Israel’s National Cyber Directorate & it’s Health Ministry say ‘early assessments & a quick response’ stopped the attacks over the weekend; Hillel Yaffe Hospital’s systems still being restored
No Damage
“Early assessments & a quick response from the directorate & staff on the ground halted the attempts & no damage was caused,” the joint statement commented.
The Directorate stated that 9 hospitals & health institutions were targeted, according to Hebrew-language media reports. It was not immediately clear what type of cyber-attacks were attempted, or who may have been behind them.
The Directorate & the Health Ministry also explained that in recent days they have been acting to “strengthen the level of cyber protection while identifying new vulnerabilities” in the health sector.
Ransomware
The attempted attacks over the weekend came after the Hillel Yaffe Medical Centre in Hadera, Central Israel was hit with a major ransomware cyber-attack last week, crippling systems that could take months to recover.
Sun’s joint statement commented that the Ministry & Directorate were still working to restore Hillel Yaffe’s systems “gradually & securely, as soon as possible.” Some non-urgent procedures were cancelled as a result of the attack, but most of the hospital’s work is continuing, using alternative IT systems & with pen & paper.
Barred from Paying
A ransomware attack involves breaking into an entity’s networks to encrypt its data, then demanding a ransom, typically paid via cryptocurrency in exchange for the digital key, to unlock it. However, as a government hospital, Hillel Yaffe was barred from paying any ransom, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.
Last week, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate also issued a general warning to Israeli businesses to be aware of potential cyber-attacks, as the country faces an increase in hacking attempts.
Most Affected Country
New data released Thurs. suggested that Israel was the country most affected by ransomware since 2020.
Last week, Microsoft said that it had identified a group of Iranian hackers using the tech giant’s products to target Israeli & American defence technology companies as well as firms running maritime shipping in the Middle East.
Separately, Google warned of a surge in state-backed hackers, with a report focusing on the “notable campaigns” of a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian Cyber-Attacks
Numerous suspected Iranian cyber-attacks on Israel were reported in recent years, including 1 that targeted its water infrastructure in 2020.
Israel & Iran have been engaged in a years-long ‘shadow’ war, with Israel allegedly directing most of its efforts — including multiple suspected cyber-attacks — at sabotaging the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
In July, cyber-security firm Check Point reported that Israeli institutions are targeted by about twice as many cyber-attacks as the average in other countries around the world, particularly the country’s health sector, which experiences an average of 1,443 attacks a week.
Targeted Sectors
The most targeted sectors around the world, including in Israel, are education & research, followed by government & security organisations, & then health institutions, Check Point stated.
The report found that, on average, 1 in every 60 Israeli organisations or firms is targeted every week with ransomware attacks, an increase of 30% over the 2020 rate.
https://www.cybernewsgroup.co.uk/virtual-conference-november-2021/
