Iran cyberattacks on Israel rose sharply in 2026, official says

Iranian cyberattacks against Israel have surged since the launch of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran this year, a senior Israeli security official was quoted as saying on Monday.

Yossi Karadi, director general of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper that Israeli authorities recorded about 1,600 hostile cyber incidents during military operations on Iran in June 2025.

He said the number rose to about 4,800 incidents in the same month this year.

“Some groups are very skilled,” Karadi said. “We can handle them, but we have to take them seriously. Unlike in the kinetic realm, there’s no ceasefire in cyberspace.”

Karadi said the attacks targeted systems used by critical infrastructure, central organizations, small and medium-sized companies and the public, including law and accounting firms.

“So far - and hopefully it stays that way - we’ve managed to fend off attacks on critical infrastructure,” he said.