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Anonymous joins battle after Iranian scientist's death

Jacob Aron, technology reporter
 
(Image: KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features)

An online skirmish between pro- and anti-Israeli hackers has escalated following the death of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, the Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed yesterday in a car explosion.

The attacks began last week when a group of Saudi Arabian hackers called Group-XP published what it claimed were the credit card details of 400,000 Israelis, though the Bank of Israel says only 15,000 people were affected. On Saturday, Israeli deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon called the attack "a breach of sovereignty comparable to a terrorist operation", adding that "Israel has active capabilities for striking at those who are trying to harm it, and no agency or hacker will be immune from retaliatory action."

Meanwhile, an Israeli student called Amir Phadida claimed to have uncovered the identify of a Group-XP hacker known as 0xOmar. Phadida said the hacker was actually born in the United Arab Emirates and currently lives in Mexico, but 0xOmar quickly contacted Israeli news site Ynet, claiming Phadida was wrong. The hacker also told the site that his next targets include military contractors and Israeli supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems - the industrial control software previously targeted by the Stuxnet worm.

Retaliation for 0xOmar's actions came on Tuesday when an Israeli hacker called Omer Cohen published details of over 200 Saudi credit cards, using the name "0xOmer" to taunt to the Saudi hacker. Cohen did not provide provide the credit card CCV numbers, which allow the cards to be used for online purchases, saying the act was just meant to "alert". Two Saudi-based credit card holders have confirmed their details were compromised.

Speaking to the Jerusalem Post, Cohen claimed to hold the personal details of over 10,000 people in Saudi Arabia and 300,000 Saudi credit cards. He also said that another member of his hacking group, named Israel Defenders, is a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces working in military intelligence.

Now, Anonymous has weighed in. Yesterday former LulzSec leader and outspoken Anonymous member Sabu called for hackers to attack Israel in revenge for the death of Ahmadi-Roshan. He later retweeted a message from another Anonymous Twitter account dubbed FuryOfAnon with what he claimed were the internet protocol (IP) addresses and login information for Israeli SCADA systems.

Accessing the IP addresses brings up a variety of login pages, including some that appear to be the control panels for commercially available web routers. It is not yet clear whether the addresses are actually connected to SCADA systems, or whether 0xOmar was involved in accessing them. 

http://www.newscientist.com/