According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), international hackers are planning to attack Jewish and Israeli online targets as part of what has become an annual campaign.
The ADL’s Centre on Extremism says that there are two significant elements to this year’s campaign – the leadership of a pro-terrorist, antisemitic group in the effort, and the targeting of individuals on their mobile devices.
The security advisory says that there are strong indications that AnonGhost, an international hacker group that supports terrorist groups and frequently employs antisemitism as part of its activity, has replaced Anonymous as the main organiser of this year’s #OpIsrael campaign.
Groups such as AnonGhost express unambiguous support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and the Islamic State (ISIS) and have carried out cyber-attacks in their names, bringing an Islamic extremist element into an already virulently anti-Israel and antisemitic campaign.
The new campaign is being called for 7th April, during the Jewish Passover holiday period.
The ADL says that AnonGhost appears to have already threatened individual Israelis with violence through mobile devices. According to ADL, the group has sent messages to Israelis with a picture of an ISIS fighter with the caption, “We are coming O Jews to kill you.” A message sent to another Israeli man reportedly included an image of his family with the threat, “I’ll stick a knife in their throats.”
Among the more sophisticated hacker groups in the world, AnonGhost has launched and promoted software enabling supporters to take part in the cyber-attacks. The group has reportedly claimed responsibility for dozens of hacks in the United States, often with the signature, “Death To All Jews.”
In previous years, OpIsrael was spearheaded by the Arab subdivision of Anonymous and timed to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day. Anonymous hackers have threatened to “wipe Israel off the Internet” and have described the campaign as an “Electronic Holocaust.”
Source: ADL
