'This is just the beginning,' warns Israeli hacker

He’s only 17 years old, but the Israeli hacker known as “0xOmer” has already made headlines after publishing hundreds of Saudi credit card numbers in retaliation against Arab hackers, claiming to be Saudis, who published tens of thousands of Israeli credit card details on the Internet last week.

“This is just the beginning,” 0xOmer told The Jerusalem Post Wednesday.

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“We have over 300 Saudi credit card numbers in our possession... and the personal details of over 10,000 people in Saudi Arabia, including full names, e-mails and addresses. If they publish one more little detail on Israel, we will attack in full force and publish all of the credit card details.”

On Wednesday night, the Saudi hacker released what he said were 200 more Israeli credit card numbers, and called other anti-Israel online activists to step up web attacks.

Responding to the development, 0xOmer said he would release thousands of personal information accounts belonging to Saudis.

“They want force? No problem,” he wrote. “We have a further 300,000 working Saudi credit card numbers. We are seriously considering whether we should publicize them.”

The hacker provided a glimpse into how a developing cyber-war is being fought.

Last week, Israeli credit card companies and the Bank of Israel scrambled to cancel credit card numbers compromised by the actions of the anti-Israel hacker. Now, Saudi banks will have to take the same steps to protect their customers.

“I belong to a group of hackers named Israel Defenders,” 0xOmer said. The team, he added, is made up of four members who function like an organized cell with a clear division of labor.

“My role is to find and exploit security breaches at the highest levels,” he told the Post.

Another member of the team, code-named “7ukk1,” is in charge of defacing websites and handling foreign media relations; according to 0xOmer, he is an IDF soldier serving in Military Intelligence.

A third member specializes in breaking into servers. The fourth member helps 0xOmer identify security gaps.

“It’s very easy to be a hacker. It’s a matter of studying for two to three months and you can master the field,” he said. “The only difficulty is in finding Arab websites because they’re in a different language.”

But such websites have already been found in the form of a Saudi shopping website, where security breaches were identified.

The hackers are interested only in sending a warning to anti-Israel hackers at this stage, and stopped short of providing credit card information that can be used to make fraudulent purchases, 0xOmer added.

“I didn’t publicize the three-digit number on the back of the card [necessary for online shopping],” he explained. But if hostile Internet activists continue attacking Israeli targets, Israel Defenders will publish hundreds of credit card numbers, along with the three-digit code.

The four youths are taking up what they say is a deterrence posture in an online world that is increasingly being used as a battle arena.

The arena is dominated almost exclusively by the young.

“Many want to know how old I am, and some think I’m an adult. The right answer is that I’m 17,” 0xOmer said.

On his Twitter account he posted a link to a media report on the Israeli hacking group, adding, “Israeli pride!” He also directed expletives at “0xOmar,” the hacker who exposed the Israeli credit card numbers.