Hackers are claiming to have compromised Israel’s “Iron Dome” air defense system amid the country’s ongoing clash with Palestine. But the claim, amplified largely by conspiracy theorists, is without evidence.
Following the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas over the weekend, hacktivism targeting online infrastructure has seen a significant uptick. Primarily, websites originating from Israel and Palestine have been temporarily knocked offline with DDoS attacks.
Yet some have claimed that more sophisticated hacking has been observed as well, including the alleged compromise of the Iron Dome, a system that uses missiles to intercept incoming rockets fired by Hamas. The claim has gone viral in far-wing circles thanks to former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, best known for promoting the debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
In a series of posts on Monday, Bryne pointed to screenshots uploaded to Telegram by the hacking group AnonGhost showing a list of IP addresses belonging to Iron Dome developer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
“NEWSFLASH: Israel’s Iron Dome was hacked. Rafael is contractor for Iron Dome,” Byrne said. “These IP’s are the channels of communication to the system. Just before the attack they were brought down (2nd image). There would be a admin login that shows up when you access online.”
The claim that the Iron Dome had been infiltrated was used by conservatives to bolster the debunked hacking allegations regarding the 2020 presidential election.
“If the #IronDome can be hacked why don’t people believe that our election machines can be hacked?” one verified user asked.
Actual cybersecurity experts, however, were quick to shoot down Byrne’s interpretation.
The MalwareHunterTeam, a group that collects and analyses malware, pushed back on the claims in a series of posts on X.
The group highlighted how merely sharing a list of alleged IP addresses from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in no way prove that the advanced defense system was compromised.
In another post, vx-underground, which maintains the largest collection of malware samples and source code on the internet, likewise mocked Byrne’s claims.
“This post might very well be the dumbest post (and thread) in all of Twitter history,” the group mockingly wrote. “This is not an easy achievement either. Caution: reading this thread may result in spontaneous combustion.”
The Iron Dome was momentarily overwhelmed after more than 5,000 rockets were launched into Israel in just 20 minutes at the start of the conflict. But at no point since the recent fighting began has the defense system become inoperable, and recent videos have shown successful deployments.
It appears Israel’s initial struggle to combat the barrage has been used by some hacktivist groups to claim involvement.
The Daily Dot reached out to Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to inquire about the alleged compromise but did not receive a reply by press time.
