Israel was the number two target in the world for hackers and malicious actors in 2024 as the country’s multifront war with the Hamas terror group and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon spurred a spike in cyberattacks, the annual global threat analysis report by Israeli cybersecurity firm Radware showed.
With 1,550 cyberattacks, mostly from pro-Palestinian groups opposing Israel’s policies in the Middle East, the Jewish nation was ranked second in the 2024 list of most targeted countries by hacktivist groups after the Ukraine, with 2,052 attacks, and before the United States in third place.
Since the outbreak of the Hamas war on October 7, 2023, the intensity of cyberattacks against Israel has tripled, as Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah, are increasingly joining hacking efforts, according to the Israel National Cyber Directorate.
Last year, pro-Palestinian hacktivists continued to target Israel “due to religious and ideological reasons, with hacktivist groups aiming to make political statements or protest against perceived injustices, Israeli governmental actions,” according to the Radware report.
“We are witnessing a revolution in the threat landscape, driven by several catalysts including conflicts, geopolitical tensions, increased organizational exposure due to cloud migration, and more complex and sophisticated attack methods,” said Radware VP of cyber intelligence Ron Meyran. “Add to this the impact of artificial intelligence, which lowers entry barriers and enables even novice players to successfully execute cyberattacks and you get a concerning threat landscape.”
Cyber threat actors have leveraged AI to enhance the sophistication of attacks by using generative AI models to craft convincing phishing lures and develop malware, Radware said.
Globally, cyberattacks using a so-called Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) model – where hackers flood websites with traffic to slow or halt operations on systems – soared by 550 percent last year compared to 2023. The average duration of network attacks jumped by 37% year-on-year.
“Ongoing conflicts, such as the Israeli-Palestinian situation, have fueled hacktivist activities, leading to an increase in politically motivated cyberattacks targeting public, private and critical infrastructure,” Radware said.
Among the top hacktivist groups targeting Israel in 2024 were pro-Palestinian group RipperSec, pro-Russian NoName057(16), Anonymous Guys, Anonymous Muslims, Moroccan Black Cyber Army, Ketapang Grey Hat Team, 1915 Team and Al Ahad.
Many of these groups, such as NoName057(16) and RipperSec, have utilized Telegram to orchestrate and claim DDoS attacks, Radware said. The most targeted sectors were government, education and finance.
“The escalation in the threat landscape has significant implications for every sector, from finance and telecommunications to government and e-commerce and beyond,” said Meyran. “Organizations operate in a dynamic environment that requires equally dynamic defense strategies.”
“We are witnessing new players entering the offensive cyber domain…they don’t need to excel to cause damage…organizations, on the other hand, must excel in defense management,” he remarked.
Radware’s analysis showed that last year, 43% of the DDoS attacks worldwide targeted telecommunications companies, and 30% financial services. The financial sector experienced the sharpest increase in attack volume per organization with a 393% year-over-year increase, followed by transportation and logistics sectors (375%).