Cyber Incident Victim: Mossad
Date:
Aug 2014
Location:
Israel
Summary
Anonymous hackers executed a DDoS attack that disabled the Mossad website for over ten hours, attributing the action to retaliation against Israeli military operations in Gaza. The hacktivist group announced the disruption under #OpSaveGaza, citing the killing of a Palestinian demonstrator wearing their symbolic Guy Fawkes mask as motivation, and called for broader cyber attacks against Israeli targets.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 3 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actor | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 actor | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On August 2, 2014, the hacktivist group Anonymous executed a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack against the official website of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. The attack rendered the website inaccessible for over 10 hours, displaying error messages to visitors. Anonymous claimed responsibility for the attack through posts on the Twitter account @AnonymousGlobo, linking it to their #OpSaveGaza campaign opposing Israeli military operations in Gaza. The group shared screenshots confirming the website’s downtime and urged supporters to participate in further cyber operations targeting Israeli infrastructure. This incident followed Anonymous’s earlier public appeals for elite hackers to join coordinated cyber attacks against Israel, amplifying their campaign’s visibility.
The attack occurred amid heightened tensions following the July 28, 2014, death of Palestinian demonstrator Tayeb Abu Shehada, who was photographed wearing Anonymous’s signature Guy Fawkes mask before being killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Anonymous explicitly cited Shehada’s death as motivation for retaliatory actions, vowing to “take revenge” against Israel. The group expanded its targeting beyond Mossad, sharing links to additional Israeli websites disrupted under #OpSaveGaza. No technical details about attack vectors, mitigation efforts, or Mossad’s response were disclosed in available reports. The website remained offline at the time of Article 1’s publication, demonstrating the operation’s immediate disruptive impact. Anonymous leveraged social media to publicize both the cyber attack and its geopolitical motivations, framing the action within broader protests against Israeli military operations during the 2014 Gaza conflict.