Iranian Hackers Target Israel's Largest Bank

Iranian hackers have attacked Israel's largest bank, local officials report.

Bank Hapoalim, which has $79 billion in assets, was targeted by hackers using Iranian servers. Bank officials said the hackers tried to plant a virus to get user information such as addresses, biographical data, and email addresses.

The attack reportedly failed due to existing security measures. Soon afterwards, the security officials informed the Bank of Israel of the attack. Yisrael Hayom reported that the Bank of Israel had convened an emergency meeting with representatives from Israel's banks to discuss ways to defend against future cyber-attacks.

"It was an attempt to infiltrate the bank's personal computers," Arutz Sheva reported a source inside Bank Hapoalim as saying. "As a result, our information threat level was increased. But I must emphasize that the hackers failed to penetrate our sensitive systems."

Attacks on the mail servers of banks have been a regular part of the ongoing cyber-war between the Arab world and Israel.

Managing director of Israel's Maglan information security, Shai Blitzblau, told Yisrael Hayom's website that it was his belief that the attacks would continue.

"If the bank's business website is attacked and unavailable for a few hours, it's not the end of the world," he said. "But internal email is essential for the bank to function at all. It's very essential in the modern world."