IDF notes increase in attempts to hack army PCs

Army identifies an increase in attempts to listen in on IDF communications, gain access to military computers.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
cyber hack virus hacking 370 (photo credit: Jim Urquhart/Reuters)
cyber hack virus hacking 370
(photo credit: Jim Urquhart/Reuters)
The IDF’s Information Security Branch has identified an increase in attempts by foreign hostile intelligence entities to listen in on army communications and gain access to military computers.
The increased threat includes a major attempt to eavesdrop on cellphones used by the IDF, as well as hacking attacks directed at army computer networks.
Sources from the Information Security Branch did not name who specifically was behind the efforts, but said they expected the stepped-up threat to continue into 2013.
As such, in the past four years the IDF has doubled the number of lie-detector tests carried out on soldiers to ensure they do not violate information security regulations. The number of lie-detector tests rose by 25 percent in 2012 compared to 2011.
Although most violations in the information security field are accidental and are on the decrease, a large number of the violations continue, a source from the branch recently told the Bamahane army magazine.
In addition, the branch has worked with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) to draw up new training courses for officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers on how to secure information.
The branch has also introduced a new system in recent months designed to send out a warning when sensitive information could leak out to the Internet. The program carries out large scans of various sectors of the Internet, including the social networks Twitter and Facebook, as well as news websites.
In case of sensitive leaks, the Information Security Branch will receive an alert in real time.
Last week, The New York Times cited US security officials as saying that Iran was behind a string of online attacks against American banks. The officials said the denial-of-service attacks on the banks were sophisticated and beyond the scope of amateurs.