Israel says it has foiled big cyber attack by foreign state-backed hacker ‘Lazarus’

Israel said on August 12 that it has foiled big cyber-attack by an international group, backed by a foreign state, against its security industries. Israel’s Ministry of Defense said that members of the international cyber group "Lazarus" used various hacking techniques, including social engineering and impersonation, but was thwarted by the Director of Security for Defense Establishment in cooperation with additional security institutions.

While the ministry didn’t name the country, reports suggest that the hackers’ group is based in North Korea. Israel said that the cybercriminals built fake profiles on LinkedIn, a social network primarily used for job searches in the high-tech sector, and impersonated managers, CEOs and leading officials in HR departments, as well as representatives of international companies.

They allegedly contacted employees of leading defence industries in Israel, with the aim of developing discussions and tempting them with various job opportunities. The ministry said in a statement that the attackers attempted to compromise the computers of these employees, to infiltrate their networks and gather sensitive security information in the process of sending job offers.

“These attackers also attempted to use the official websites of several companies in order to hack their systems,” the statement read.

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'Identified on real-time'

The ministry said that the cyber-attacks were identified in real-time and thwarted by the Tech Unit under the Director of Security for Defense Establishment, in the Ministry of Defense as well as the cyber defence systems employed by the defence industries. The Directorate of Security has launched an investigation and operational activity together with the defence industries and other security bodies, following this attempted breach.

“The Director of Security for Defense Establishment will continue its work in thwarting attempts to breach the networks of Israeli defence industries, and any attempts to harm the technological capabilities and assets of the State of Israel,” said the department.

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