Anonymous Declared War on Israel — Here's What the Damage Looks Like

Impact

On the same day every year since 2013, Anonymous promises to attack Israel with a "cyber-holocaust" on behalf of what the hacker group considers Palestinian oppression. 

The 2015 operation was an embarrassment. Anonymous didn't take down a single government website. 

This year, the group did more damage. Anonymous claims it took down 55 Israeli government sites. The number is really much closer to 38, as Vocativ pointed out — a few of the sites on Anonymous' list don't actually exist. For example, "http://www.idf.gov.il" is not the website for the Israel Defense Forces. This is.

The sites were taken down with DDoS attacks, a rudimentary technique that involves flooding servers with traffic, and doesn't require real hacking skill. As of today, it appears that most of the sites have been restored and are fully operational again.

Meanwhile, the Israeli people have been making fun of Anonymous. They don't seem to regard the group as an actual threat.

The following tweet roughly translates to "Hackers got into the HaPoalim site. The bank charged them a hacking fee of 14.90 shekels."

The latest "attack" is still more impressive than what Anonymous has pulled off lately. Things haven't been going well for the internet's favorite hacktivists. Attempted attacks on Donald Trump and the KKK have fallen short of doing any real damage. Anonymous "declares war" all the time — but rarely do these campaigns have any kind of meaningful effect.

Even if Anonymous is a laughing stock in Israel, it at least managed to knock down a couple of government websites. Maybe those guys have still got it.