The Israeli government denied on Sunday that a cyber-attack was the reason several websites went down, including those of the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet security service and government ministries. IDF spokesman said there was most likely a malfunction with the servers.

The government Facebook page posted a message saying: "Due to a systematic malfunction of the (government website system's) servers, some of the government websites and services have not been accessible in the last few hours." Carmela Avner, head of the government website system, said that "this is a technical problem that is being handled by all relevant means and all resources are being used to fix the problem."

Open gallery view Occupy Wall Street protestors wearing Guy Fawkes masks commonly associated with the hacker group Anonymous in New York, last month. Credit: AP

The websites' crash came after the international cabal of hackers known as Anonymous threatened a cyber-attack on the Israeli governments computers in response to its interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla on Friday.

In a video that was uploaded to YouTube, Anonymous warns that if the siege on Gaza is maintained, it will have no choice but to go on the attack.

Anonymous said that if the siege continues and Israeli forces intercept additional flotillas, or if they conduct additional operations such as the commandeering of the Mavi Marmara, it will have no alternative but to launch repeated cyber-attacks on Israeli computer systems until the siege ends.



קראו כתבה זו בעברית: נפלו אתרי האינטרנט של משרדי הממשלה, צה"ל, המוסד והשב"כ