Israel suspects Iranian cyberattack behind false siren alerts

Israel on Monday accused Iran of being behind a cyberattack the previous day that activated false rocket warning sirens in Jerusalem, state-owned Kan TV news reported.

The Israel National Cyber Directorate believes the alarms, heard for about an hour on Sunday evening in Jerusalem and the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat, were triggered by a cyberattack carried out by Iran, according to Kan.

In a statement issued on Sunday night, the military said the sirens were false alarms and "the issue is under investigation," adding later that the hacked sirens belong to the local authorities and are not part of the Home Front Command's system.

The Home Front Command said in a separate statement that the local authorities were instructed to take preventative measures against the threat.

Commenting on the incident on Army Radio, Yair Golan, a lawmaker with the ruling coalition and former deputy chief of the army, said Israeli security agencies have been preparing themselves for Iranian attempts to attack civilian systems in the country using cyber warfare.

Iran has not responded to the Israeli allegations yet.

Israel and Iran have been engaged in a shadow war, in which Israel has launched numerous airstrikes on Iranian targets in Syria while Iran has allegedly attacked vessels linked to Israelis in the Gulf.

On June 13, Israel's National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued a "level 4" travel warning for Istanbul, the highest level possible, citing concerns of "revenge attacks" over the killing of Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps colonel on May 22 in Tehran. Iran believes he was assassinated by Israeli forces.

(ANI)

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