On eve of attack, Israel preparing for the cyber-worst

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.timesofisrael.com/on-eve-of-attack-israel-preparing-for-the-cyber-worst/

By DAVID SHAMAH
The Times of Israel
April 5, 2013

Under the threat of what hackers swore would be “the largest Internet battle 
in the history of mankind,” Israel has been preparing for the past week for 
what many expect to be a massive attempt to swamp Israel’s Internet — bringing 
websites to a crawl, or even bringing them down.

he attack is set for Sunday, April 7 — coincidentally, or perhaps not, the eve 
of Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel. Computer system administrators and 
security experts have been shoring up network defenses, changing passwords, 
and ensuring that they have the Internet bandwidth to withstand an attack.

In their latest screed, the hackers behind the newest incarnation of 
#OpIsrael, the ongoing attempt to “wipe Israel off the map of the Internet,” 
appealed for unity in the hacker community, which needed to come together to 
attack Israel. “We can’t be consumed by our petty differences any more,” said 
the message, posted on hacker-friendly websites. “We will be united in our 
common interest. We will once again be fighting for freedom.” In a theatrical 
flourish (using a quote from the 1996 film “Independence Day,” which portrayed 
mankind fighting off a Martian invasion), the hackers state: “’We will not go 
quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to 
live on, we’re going to survive.”

While the attacks are aimed at government, bank, academic, and business 
websites (the hackers have published extensive lists of their targets), 
ordinary Israelis should take precautions as well — just in case, said the 
Israel Internet Association (ISOC), which is taking the threat so seriously 
that it will be operating a hotline (03-9700911) for people to report attacks, 
and will update its website throughout the day with status reports about what 
is going on in cyberspace.

[...]

______________________________________________
Attend #HITB2013AMS April 8th - 11th in Amsterdam.
Featuring over 42 international speakers and keynotes
by Bob Lord and Edward Schwartz http://conference.hitb.org