Israeli hackers brought down the websites of both the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) Tuesday, in the latest episode of a continuing cyber war between hackers in the two countries.

The Israeli hackers, who go by the name IDF-Team, were able to paralyze the Tadawul website, while causing significant delays to the ADX exchange site.

Open gallery view A trader at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Credit: Bloomberg

The hackers wrote that the attack came in response to the pathetic hacking of Israeli sites on Monday. The hackers warned that if the attacks continue, they will move to the next stage and paralyze websites for a period of two weeks to a month.

Earlier Tuesday, a pro-Israel hacker published a list of 30,000 e-mail addresses and Facebook passwords of "helpless Arabs" on a popular hacking site. The hacker, who goes by Hannibal, wrote that his actions - which began Friday - are a "counter-attack" following the publication of Israeli credit card details on the Internet by a reportedly Saudi hacker.

"I noticed that poor intelligence of 0x omar and his friends [sic]," he wrote on pastebin.com, the same site used by the Saudi hacker. "State of Israel, not to worry, you're in the hands of the world's best hacker that I am [sic]," Hannibal reassured. "I will continue to support the government of Israel will continue to attack the Arab countries," he wrote.

Hannibal claims to have 30 million e-mail addresses of Arabs, complete with passwords, and to have fielded e-mails not only from potential victims but from officials in France and other countries asking him to desist. But if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares a cyber war, he's ready to publish the details of 10 million bank accounts, Hannibal wrote, adding that he also had information on 4 million Arab credit cards.