Israel Confirms DDoS Attack on Government Websites

Israel has confirmed that websites run by the government have been on the receiving end of a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. Among the affected websites are those belonging to some of the country's ministries.

The Israeli government has likewise confirmed that affected websites have since been restored.

DDoS attacks usually target websites with the goal of making it difficult for the site to function normally. This is achieved by sending the website a large amount of requests that will go beyond what the website can handle.

Israel Confirms DDoS Attack

Israel has confirmed reports that that government websites have been hit with a DDoS attack.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, among the websites hit by the attack are those of the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of the Interior.

The country's National Cyber Directorate said that "In the last few hours, a denial of service [DDoS] attack has been identified on a communications provider which, as a result, has for a short time prevented access to a number of sites, including government sites."

The government has assured everyone that the affected sites have since been restored.

As of press time, it has not been confirmed who carried out the DDoS attack against the Israeli government. Al Jazeera's report, however, has noted that the country's National Cyber Directorate said in a report last year that there has been a significant increase in cyberattacks not just in Israel, but all over the world as well.

What is a DDoS Attack?

According to Kaspersky, a Distributed Denial-of-Service attack, more commonly known as DDoS, "takes advantage of the specific capacity limits that apply to any network resources - such as the infrastructure that enables a company's website."

Multiple requests will be sent to the intended target in the hopes of exceeding the handling capacity of the website. Should that capacity be exceeded, a website is unable to function normally, which is why it is called "denial-of-service."

Notable Signs of a DDoS Attack

There are ways to identify signs of a possible DDoS attack. Per Data Dome, it is recommended that a website owner use traffic analytics tools to help check for signs.

One notable sign of DDoS attack is a spike in traffic coming from sources that share the same signatures. This may include having the same web browser versions, device type, country of origin, and more. Another similar sign is a spike in traffic coming from the same IP address.

It also important to note any patterns in such spikes in traffic, such as if there are any intervals to the spikes or if they happen at a particular hours.

Data Dome, however, points out that by the time a website administrator or owner catches these signs, it may be too late as the attack has probably been already carried out.