The Guardian : Chinese hackers hack zionist’s Iron Dome, steal missile data

Hacking group previously linked to hacks on US defence contractors steals detailed missile schematics.A Chinese hacking group has been accused of stealing data from Israel’s billion-dollar Iron Dome missile system.

The state-sponsored Comment Crew hacking group, thought to operate out of China, was responsible for attacks from 2011 onwards on three Israeli defence technology companies Elisra Group, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (Rads) all involved with the Iron Dome project.

The Iron Dome is Israel’s advanced anti-missile defence system – part funded to the tune of $1bn by the US government. It fires missiles to intercept rockets and artillery shells fired from between 2.5 miles and 43 miles away into populated areas, commonly described as a missile shield.

The revelation comes as cyber attacks against Israel have intensified during its current conflict with Palestine, including recent attacks defacing Israel Railways and hospital websites and denial of service attacks which slow Israeli’s internet connections, according to Dina Beer, managing director of the Israeli Internet Association, talking to Bloomberg.

The hacks occurred between 10 October 2011 and 13 August 2012, according to security firm Cyber Engineering Services (CES), talking to independent security researcher Brian Krebs, which tapped into the secret communications of the hackers and discovered that they had stolen over 700 files from IAI.

CES said that the majority of the data was intellectual property and that the 700 files likely represented only a small proportion of the data stolen from the three defence companies.

Among the documents stolen from IAI were detailed schematics and specifications for the US-designed Arrow 3 missile, which is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and a key component of Iron Dome, as well as drones and other rockets.

“Most of the technology in the Arrow 3 wasn’t designed by Israel, but by Boeing and other US defence contractors,” Joseph Drissel, founder and chief executive of US-based CES, told Krebs. “We transferred this technology to them, and they coughed it all up. In the process, they essentially gave up a bunch of stuff that’s probably being used in our systems as well.”

China is not the only country attacking Israeli through cyber channels. Israel counted 44m attacks on government sites during Israel’s eight-day conflict with Hamas in 2012, with the majority originating from Palestinian territory.

‘It’s terrorism, designed mostly to frighten’

Social media feeds and websites of news organisations have also been hit, including a TV channel that was hacked to display a Hebrew message in July urging Israeli mothers to call their sons home from the country’s military or see them killed or captured.

Domino’s Israel had its Facebook page taken over by hackers posting messages, including one that stated that, “today will strike deep in Israel, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Ashdod more than 2000 rockets. We’ll start at 7. Counting back towards the end of Israel … Be warned!”