In recent years Israel has prided itself on becoming a cyberdefense  superpower, including branding the southern city of Beersheba “the cyber capital of Israel.” But even so, outside hackers continue to take aim at Israeli institutions and organizations. 

On Aug. 31, for instance, a computer intrusion occurred against the websites of the Haifa, Eilat, and Jaffa ports and the tourism site of Old Acre. Some reports claimed that it was Iranian hackers, but the Iraqi hacker group Al-tahrea claimed responsibility. Taking down the website apparently didn’t impact the activity of the ports themselves, but it served as a warning to the port operators and local authorities in the region. 

At the beginning of September, hackers broke into the sewage system of Or Akiva and exposed the vulnerability of the system. 

The chairman of the CEO forum of the Federation of Local Authorities, Doron Milberg, warned yesterday that the next attempts could endanger lives. “We have to prepare immediately and operationally for cyberattacks on local authorities. Don’t wait, prepare today for an attack on your systems, because if there will be an attack — we will be blamed. When lives are lost, we will be criminally liable. We all have a ton of work, but let’s prioritize defense of our computer systems from cyberattack as a top priority,” Milberg said.