Anonymous' #OpIsrael Cyberattack Comes Every Year on April 7 — And Israel Is Ready

Every year, Anonymous threatens to attack Israel in the name of Palestine and wipe them off the internet. This year, like each year before, Israel is ready.

The attack happens every year on April 7, starting in 2013, when it occurred on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. For the first couple of years, Anonymous managed to take down a few government sites but was mostly repelled.

But in 2015, when Anonymous threatened an "electronic holocaust," the damage was almost entirely negligible, and no government websites were taken down.

This year, Anonymous has been mostly silent about its plans for Israel. The popular @Op_Israel Twitter account hasn't even mentioned Israel since January, around the time they were offering condolences over the death of the actor Alan Rickman.

But just in case, Israel organized a hackathon yesterday with over 400 participants who gathered to brainstorm how they'd defend against a city-wide cyberattack on their power grid, traffic system and basic infrastructure.

"The nightmare scenario could be significant economical, political, social and reputational damage," former CISO of the Israel Defense Forces Menny Barzilay told TechCrunch. "Stock markets collapse, power goes off, nothing works. Obviously, though it is possible, it is more science fiction that a real probable scenario. I expect to see almost no real damage."