Pro-Iranian Attackers Claim to Target Israeli Railroad Network

UPDATED

The pro-Iranian Cyber Avengers hacktivist group has claimed to have hit yet another Israeli public service, supposedly revealing information about the electrical infrastructure of the country's railroad network, Israeli Railways.

However, the train operator itself denied that any cyberattack had taken place. Images published in local media outlets apparently depicted parts of the railroad's infrastructure, and subsequent reports claimed that the attack had caused the train network's central signaling computer to crash intermittently, resulting in nationwide signal malfunction on the tracks (and halting trains on Saturday). Dark Reading has not independently confirmed that such disruptions took place.

The Cyber Avengers group also boasted via its Telegram channel that it has carried out several cyberattacks on the railroad infrastructure of Israel since 2020, and it claimed to take down the website of Israel's largest oil refinery, BAZAN Group in July. The attackers also released what it said were screenshots of the company's SCADA systems. 

All of those claims were dismissed by the company and debunked by researchers from Check Point, who told Dark Reading that the materials were complete fabrications, and this was "Anti Israel hackers spreading fake pictures and statements against Israeli companies."

This story was updated Sept. 21 with context about Cyber Avenger's history of making questionable claims regarding cyberattacks on Israeli infrastructure.