Dictators military units disseminate information through hackers in Dark Net and change the discourse • The bad news - they may be doing this in Israel as well
Illustrative image // Photo: Reuters
The Israeli elections are approaching huge strides, and so are the reports on the activities of countries and international parties that want to influence us through cyber. Globally, foreign sources have been shown to work through the network to influence the results of the Berkazit and it is alleged that Russia has also acted to influence the 2016 election of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Former GSS cyber division chief Eric (Harris) Barbing is convinced that even in the upcoming elections in Israel, foreign countries will act to influence the outcome through offensive military units, which not only protect digital assets but also act to change the situation in the states. Others. "We may see hacking into parties' databases, the use of endless bots and other actions that are defined as criminal offenses. Ahead of Election Day, we see such increased activity.
"Russia, China, North Korea, and even Iran have offensive cyber units that work to advance their policies around the world," Barbing explains. He is expected to attend the CyberTech conference in Tel Aviv at the end of January and address the world's cyber threat. "These are military departments that are close to a governing body of the ruling party in that state, and it directly controls them. Such units will be the cores of military veterans and the security forces who are loyal to the ruler, along with young hackers who swim in the network completely. These hackers will often take the tools that are available on the network. (Dark Net), refine them and attack with them. "
They take control of the discourse through text messages and other capabilities // Photo: AFP
Sometimes the units will not perform the actions directly except through external hackers. "The attacks will not be done by the unit itself, but by network crime officials. The unit will recognize hackers operating in Malaysia, for example, or in the former Soviet Union, but the latter will not recognize who is on the other side and pay them. They will receive tailor-made material created by experts. Penetration and influence on public opinion, and extends it to social networks, other worlds of content through text messages or other means. This mode of action protects the attacking party that in the event that it becomes clear that a state interfered with another country's elections, it would complicate it politically and also expose it to attacks " .
Eric Barbing // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The attack, he adds, is done gently, with hackers pretending to be real people. "Produce assault weapons and infiltrate them. Then, underneath the surface, like a crocodile awaits prey. The network's connection is made not only to bots and fake accounts, but also to suitable people who advance my position anyway. So, I echo their message more and at the same time produce content "Really with allusions to the content I want to promote. Slowly, I encourage an argument that exists, encourages extremist actors who create interest in the surfers. I thus infuse my information and create a connection between certain areas of the surfers psychologically."
"Because people love quarrels, I not only empower my side, but also the deceptive side. Any good argument for the hacker because he generates interest and allows to push information, create restlessness, hurt and blackmail. The intelligence organizations usually wake up relatively late, when it is harder to defend.
Illustrative image // Photo: EPA
The effect, says Barbing, is on the undecided audience. "The goal is to weaken the possibility of voting against my interest." In addition, he appeals to the indifferent audience "in order to break their apathy and bring them to my side. I also strengthen the group that supports what I promote because it strengthens her opinions and makes more impact. I also cure the other party who may not change his mind but weaken In his motivation. "
Dr. Harel Manshari, head of the cyber field at the Holon HIT Institute of Technology and one of the founders of the GSS cyber system, explains how things are done. "Russia has four cyber warfare organizations - military intelligence, the Ministry of the Interior, Russian intelligence and the troll farms. These organizations are producing information theft attacks, attacks for pushing and eradicating information, and attacks and disrupting routine state operations. As early as 2013, the chief of staff said" To the Russian and the Minister of Defense that the world's influence is not just ordinary military, but other methods. "
Dr. Manishri brings the activity to blackmail Hillary Clinton before the last US election. "As early as 2012, before Trump even thought he was president, they acted strongly against it by inserting incorrect information on the troll farm and passing incriminating or incriminating information to its opponents, in addition to reverberating that information. It is also possible to steal information and pass it on to the other to use it well , Bolster opponents and make a lot of noise against Clinton. "
"One of the special methods that the Russians created and which permeates the world today is a series of pike studies on how vaccines are dangerous for children. They created an ocean of writing as an academic and circulated it in the United States to undermine the democratic administration that advocated vaccinations. Many people cited these studies There was a big scuffle. "
This method, he adds, did not remain in the U.S. alone. "Countries like Russia or Turkey have an interest in preventing Israel from exporting gas. You have to check here who gave the impetus to the Israeli opponents of the gas rig. On the one hand, opponents are right that proximity to the beach rig is dangerous, and their claims that a gas rig should be 40 miles offshore are correct, but it is worth investigating whether interested parties have jumped on this cart and exploited the public without his knowledge. China, and not just Russia and Iran and other countries, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see such phenomena around the elections. "
