Israelis' Credit Cards Latest Target of Middle Eastern Hackers

Hackers have taken aim at the credit cards belonging to about 15,000 Israelis, according to news reports and statements from Israel's central bank.

The Associated Press reported the hackers involved in the attack claimed to be Saudis. It appears to be a “politically motivated attack,” The AP said. YNET said the hackers called themselves “Group-XP” and claimed the attack was a "gift to the world for the New Year," which "would hurt the Zionist pocket," according to The AP.

"Group-XP is a known Saudi hacking group that seeks to propagate Wahhabism," Terrogence said. Wahhabism is one form of Islam followed in Saudi Arabia.

"This event is less cyber warfare than cyber terrorism," Terrogence added.

Credit card companies “blocked Internet purchases on the compromised cards” and plan to send out replacement cards “soon,” The AP said. The incident was described by The Jerusalem Post as Israel’s “largest-ever financial Internet attack.”

The hackers claimed to have released details of 400,000 credit cards, The Post reported, but most of the cards were in error or were duplicates. The hackers warned “they would continue to publish more account information in their possession.”

The cards that were affected were issued by Isracard, Leumi Card and Cal (Israel Credit Cards) companies, The Post adds. In addition, someone named “OxOmar” claimed to be head of the Wahhabi Saudi Internet group, and posted a comment that “It is fun to see 400,000 Israelis in panic.”

“The Israeli cards will lose credibility in the world’s eyes, like the Nigerian cards,” the hacker added in his online comment.

The hackers also claimed to be affiliated with the Anonymous hacking group, The Post reported.

On a similar topic, last year YNET reported that Turkish hackers “hijacked” 350 Israeli websites in September. Yedioth Ahronoth speculated that the DNS hijacking was a "test-run" in preparation of a larger attack on Israeli domains, YNET reported in an article carried by TMCnet.