Israel goes to the polls today, and online attackers have been preparing for this day for weeks. According to a report by cybersecurity company Check Point published in recent days, the election period has been accompanied by a sharp rise in attacks on Israel: a 55% increase in the volume of attacks compared with the same period last year, and an 82% jump in attacks on government bodies.
A thousand new sites, some malicious
Check Point researchers identified more than 1,200 election-related websites registered in September and October. According to the report, one in every 47 of them is suspected of being malicious. One of the attacks identified is a phishing campaign posing as a "voter information system", trying to get recipients to click a link and hand over personal details. According to reports, attack groups are also preparing denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks designed to knock government ministry and bank websites offline on election day itself.
The database that keeps coming back
During October, a database of about 6.5 million records of Israeli voters, which leaked during the 2020 election period, was once again offered for sale on a hacker forum. Data like this, including names, addresses and identifying details, is excellent raw material for convincing phishing messages, because the attacker knows enough about you to sound official.
What the state is doing
The National Cyber Directorate and the Central Elections Committee announced an operation to protect election systems, which included rehearsing intrusion attempts and disruption attacks. It is important to remember that in Israel voting itself is done with paper ballots, so an attack on websites cannot change votes. The main dangers are confusion, disinformation and stolen personal details.
How to spot a fake message
Be suspicious of any message asking you to "check eligibility" or "confirm your polling station" via a link, especially shortened links. It is best to check your polling station only on the Central Elections Committee's official website, typing the address yourself rather than following a link in a message. Never hand over card details or passwords, and treat any message that pressures you to act quickly as a reason to stop and check.
Note that most of the figures here come from a single commercial company's report, not from an official government assessment.
