On Jan. 7th, 2012, AFP reported on the Israeli response to a recent cyberattack on Israeli citizens. That cyberattack reportedly came from a Saudi hacker, and allowed for the release of credit card information for roughly 6,000 Israeli credit cards.
The Israeli response is worth mention. The article quoted Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Dany Ayalon as saying that cyberattacks amount to "terrorism that must be treated as such. In cyberspace, we have active capacities and we can hit those who try to hit us." Moreover, Mr. Ayalon said that hackers "are putting themselves in danger and that they will not benefit from any immunity against reprisal actions from Israel."
Needless to say, the Israelis deal with terrorists pretty firmly. I'd hate to be a hacker who gets the Israeli terrorist treatment. More importantly, does a kid who leaks credit card details deserve to be treated like a terrorist? What sort of treatment would the Stratfor hackers receive in Israel? These sort of hackers should face criminal liability, but treating them like terrorists for document leaks might be too much. I'm interested to see what sort of reprisal action the Israelis would use.
The source article can be found here.
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