A Sudanese hacker group claimed to have brought down the Internet sites of two Israeli ports on Wednesday as the Jewish state celebrated its Independence Day, Ynet website reported.
A group of hackers that goes by “Anonymous Sudan”, which has claimed other recent online attacks on Israeli sites, said it targeted the Haifa Port website and the Israel Ports Development and Assets Company, which manages the country’s ports. manages.
According to the report, the attack used DDoS or Denial of Access method, which floods the site’s servers with requests.
The website of the Port of Haifa appeared to be working early in the morning, however, the port development site was not available. There was no immediate comment from the ports on Israel’s Independence Day.
On Monday, the same group claimed to have taken down the website of the National Insurance Institute and the website of the Mossad spy agency. NII confirmed the hack attempt but denied it shut down its site. The Mossad did not publicly respond to the claim, although it rarely issues any public statements.
“Message to Israel, we don’t want any mediation from you in Sudan, put all your mediation in your ass,” the group added, citing a report earlier in the day Israel offered to mediate between the currently warring factions in Sudan.
After Monday’s alleged attack a successful hacking attack by Anonymous Sudan earlier this month against Israel’s national mail service and major banks.
Officials said that attack was suppressed quickly, with no apparent damage or data leaks, although the websites of two telcos and more banks were down afterwards. The National Cyber Directorate for Israel’s national mail service said the site was back up and running after a few minutes. Bank Mizrachi’s page was down for half an hour.
It said the attacks only caused “occasional interruptions”. The directorate noted that the hackers did not gain access to internal documents or files, but only to the customer-facing interface. Shortly afterwards, the websites of HOT cable service provider and 012 mobile carrier were shut down, with the group claiming responsibility for those as well.
The attacks took place on the occasion of Quds Day, an event promoted by Iran that includes fiercely anti-Israel marches and rallies in Tehran and elsewhere.
Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 22, 2023, where fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Force resumed after an internationally brokered ceasefire failed. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)
In recent months, Anonymous Sudan has claimed several brief attacks on government services, health care and other functions in European countries. Some experts have speculated that may be associated to Russia’s Kilnet hacking group instead of Sudan.
The past 12 days of urban fighting in Sudan have left hundreds dead, thousands wounded and a mass exodus of foreigners. At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured, according to UN agencies. The two sides agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire mediated by the US early Tuesday.
On 15 April fighting broke out between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and deputy rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF).
Citing unnamed foreign ministry officials, the Walla news site reported that Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and the ministry’s director-general Ronen Levi have been in direct contact with Burhan and Dagalo since the start of the fighting, urging them to reach a ceasefire. Have done
Foreign Ministry officials cited in the report said that neither Burhan or Dagalo rejected Israel’s offer to host the talks and appeared to be seriously considering it.
Israel and Sudan agreed to normalize diplomatic ties in 2020 as part of the US-backed Abraham Accords, but a final agreement remains elusive and fresh hostilities threaten to take the deal’s chances even further away.
Part of the delay in normalizing relations stems from a dispute between Sudan’s military and civilian leadership over whether to normalize with Israel. While Burhan supported normalization, the effort was later shelved. After Burhan and Dagalo overthrew the civilian government and seized power, the US cut aid to Sudan, further setting back the initiative.
