Israel faces an online cataclysm as global hackers converge on .il domains

The conflict in Gaza is serving as a virtual coming out party for hackers all over the world — showcasing their skills across hundreds of .il domains.

While death tolls continue to rise in Gaza, factions within the Anonymous hacker collective, in solidarity with Palestinians, began lashing out against Israeli websites last Thursday night, attacking government domains. 

Since the initial Anonymous attacks, other hacker enclaves have joined in the online war on the side of the Palestinians. 

Hundreds of Israeli .il domains have come under fire. Sites for weddings, auto parts sales, modeling portfolios, the IDF and Israeli government have all experienced distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, defacement and deletion. 

It seems as though not a single .il domain is safe. 

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Outside of Anonymous, Muslim hackers from Algeria, Morocco and Pakistan, among others, have carried out DDoS attacks and defacement of websites. Other attacks are the work of lone hackers or lesser known collectives. 

One rather prolific hacker, LANMIN3, has defaced a number of websites on .il domains. LANMIN3 appears to be of Algerian origin and focuses heavily on Algerian solidarity with Palestinians. 

“Algeria is with oppressed and downtrodden Palestine,” read his defacement of several .il domains in Arabic.

“If you cross the border then you will incur our retaliation,” he went on to write in his message, possibly referring to an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza.

A few other hackers from Pakistan, more versed in the parlance of the internet, posted similar messages on .il domains. 

“Yes, Israel mofos got stamped by Pakistani leets…I am writing on the behalf of all Pakistani[s] and all Muslims,” wrote what seems to be a team of four Pakistani hackers — 1337, H4x0rL1f3, ZombiE_KsA, Invectus.

Leet, or 1337, is short for “elite” a rather dated term used by hackers and gamers to denote superiority in the early to mid 1990s. 

The modern use of 1337 evokes an air of sarcasm. 

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Another hacker, referring to himself as CapoO_TunisiAnoO, defaced several Israeli websites using pro-Hamas images and anti-Israeli rhetoric. 

“In the name of Allah, the Lord of the mujahideen and martyrs, A message to the flock of cowards jews, If you think that you will destroy the Palestinian resistance, by waging a war on Gaza, know that you are stupid and foolish!” wrote CapoO_TunisiAnoO in a message on websites he defaced. 

Several other lone hackers involved in attacks on .il domains were based in Latin America, some aligning themselves with Anonymous. These hackers included Troyan_Black, who is associated with a group that calls itself Anonymous Paraguay. Another hacker, calling himself Libero, linked his Twitter account on many of his defacements. Libero appears to be operating from Argentina, linking to that South American country's .ar domain on his Twitter profile. 

Other hacks appear to have originated from Morocco and Indonesia as well. One lone hacker, calling himself Sund4nyM0uz, left the message “Pray for Palestine” and “Fuck you Israel” from “Indonesian Cyber Team,” listing several other names as well. 

The Moroccan Ghosts, another team of hackers, also defaced several .il domains, posting a YouTube video of a young Palestinian girl making an impassioned speech. 

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Teamr00t is another team of hackers attacking .il domains. They posted a detailed message, seemingly showcasing themselves to the world as a hacker force to be reckoned with. 

“Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine alone and always will be and don’t you ever forget that!! \\\"Teamr00t Has Arrived!!! We are the voice for the suppressed people of the world, and we will show you the truth!\\\" read their message posted to defaced website. 

It is unclear whether Teamr00t is associated with known script kiddie, r000t, or his associates in skidrs, another known group of script kiddies.