The Bank of Israel took down its Web site on Friday night after it was sabotaged by hackers, apparently from Algeria.
Hackers forced the Bank of Israel to take down its Web site.
Photo: AP
"Listen to me Jews - you are a nation whose fate has been decreed and sooner or later you will lose the war," read a message posted by the hackers on the bank's home page.
"The victory will come Inshallah, the Chechnya scenario will be repeated and we will kick you out," it continued. "Millions of young Muslims are ready to die for the sake of Al-Quds that belongs to us." (Al-Quds is Jerusalem in Arabic.)
The hacking constitutes a severe security breach, and it marks the first time in some time that an Israeli national information Web site has fallen victim to such a practice.
In addition, the hackers deleted Bank of Israel notices that were posted on the site up to last October. The hacker called himself "The Moorish," apparently in reference to the Islamic conquers of the Middle Ages.
Bank of Israel spokesman Yossi Sa'adon said that the damage was being dealt with and stressed that members of the public had no cause for concern over the state of their money. "There is a separation between the bank's information and content systems. It [the hacking] has no effect on the bank's internal system."
Several months ago, an Iraqi, calling himself "SoSo H H" hacked into the Army Radio Web site. All the headlines on the site were change to "Hacked by SoSo H H, Iraqi-Cracker."
