Researchers are on the lookout for state-sponsored information operations springing from the Israel-Hamas conflict, but so far, no major initiatives have cropped up. However, attacks are expected to increase over time as the situation continues, especially from actors related to Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. It is also expected to see activity designed to look like financially motivated cybercrime, including extortion-based ransomware deployments where no money is collected, just a threat is made around data exfiltration and leaking. Threats and posturing against critical infrastructure will also ramp up. Just this week, threat groups declared their intention to launch disruptive attacks against Israel, Palestine, and their supporters, while Anonymous Sudan claimed it attacked the Jerusalem Post. However, Hultquist, chief analyst for Mandiant Intelligence at Google Cloud,  did call out the amount of “dubious information” about the severity of such attacks, and noted that many claims to successfully hit major targets are just another form of influence activity.

Read more: https://www.darkreading.com/dr-global/gaza-conflict-paves-way-information-operations-campaigns