Israel thwarts murky cyber group ‘Lazarus’ attempting to target defense firms

The attempted cyber-attack was conducted by an international cyber group called “Lazarus,” an organization that is backed by a foreign country.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s defense establishment thwarted a cyber attack targeting Israel’s leading defense industries, the Defense Ministry cleared for publication Wednesday afternoon.

An investigation revealed that the attempted attack was conducted by an international cyber group called “Lazarus,” an organization that is backed by a foreign country. Members of the group used various hacking techniques, including ‘social engineering’ and impersonation, such as building fake profiles on LinkedIn.

The attackers impersonated managers, CEOs and leading officials in HR departments, as well as representatives of international companies, and contacted employees of leading defense industries in Israel with the aim of developing discussions and tempting them with various employment opportunities.

While in the process of sending job offers, the attackers attempted to infiltrate their networks and gather sensitive security information. The attackers also tried using the official websites of several companies in order to hack their systems.

The cyber-attacks were identified in real time and thwarted by the Tech Unit under the Director of Security for Defense Establishment in the Ministry of Defense as well as the cyber defense systems employed by the defense industries. No harm or disruption was made to their networks.