Iran cyberattacks on Israel surged in 2026, Israeli cyber chief says

The number of Iranian cyberattacks against Israel has shot up since the launch of the ​US-Israeli offensive against Iran this year, a senior ‌Israeli security official was quoted as saying on Monday.

Yossi Karadi, Director General of Israel's National Cyber Directorate, told German ​newspaper Die Welt that in June 2025, ​during Israeli military operations against Iran, Israel's ⁠authorities registered around 1,600 hostile cyber incidents. During the ​same month in 2026, the number had jumped to ​some 4,800 incidents, he told the paper.

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"Some groups are very skilled," Karadi said, according to the German text of the ​interview. "We can handle them, but we have to ​take them seriously. Unlike in the kinetic realm, there's no ‌ceasefire ⁠in cyberspace."

Karadi said the attacks were directed against systems used by Israel's critical infrastructure, central organisations, small to medium-sized companies and the public, citing law ​practices and accounting ​firms as ⁠among the smaller ones hit.

"So far — and hopefully it stays that way — we've ​managed to fend off attacks on ​critical ⁠infrastructure," he said.

Companies that were easier to penetrate often ended up having their computer systems wiped, he said, ⁠without ​mentioning any names.