Russia, China Sell Cyber Weapons to Hamas, Cybersecurity Expert Claims

Hamas has reportedly acquired sophisticated criminal malware to target Israeli infrastructure and entities, opening another front in the ongoing conflict.

However, one expert told Newsweek that attacks originating from the Gaza Strip were becoming increasingly unlikely due to the damage caused to the region by Israeli bombardment.

According to National Security News, Hamas has begun "renting complex computer viruses" and using these to attack the Israeli Defense Forces and other government agencies.

Using cheap malware known as "info-stealers," the group is reportedly uploading viruses to target computers via emails, games or PDF documents, and using these to steal confidential data.

Alberto Casares, chief technology officer at California-based cyber security company Constella Intelligence, told National Security News that the technology could have originated from Russia, China, Iran or North Korea.

Newsweek has contacted Casares to inquire about the claim.

National Security Newscited a report from the National Cyber Directorate, which claimed that the number of reports received had increased 43 percent between 2022 and 2023, with 68% of the 2023 reports arriving after October 7.

It said that the "Swords of Iron War" – the name given by Israel to its conflict against Hamas – had brought with it an "increase in cyber attacks that intensified gradually and moved from focusing on stealing information to causing disruption and damage."

Joseph Jarnecki, a research fellow in cyber threats and cyber security at the Royal United Services Institute, told Newsweek that Hamas's new strategy formed "an extension of the wider conflict."

"Hamas likely intends to impact Israel's digital systems with the aim of disrupting or degrading their ability to function," Jarnecki said. "The hope is that this will undermine Israel's ability to conduct the war and damage public morale."

Jarnecki added that, while it was possible Hamas was receiving these cyber tools from Russia and China, who have both been known to operate their own sophisticated hacking networks, it was more likely that the technology was coming from Iran or through non-affiliated criminal networks.

"I think that it is more likely Hamas are receiving commercial hacking tools from Iranian state sponsors or are purchasing them from online cybercriminals who operate software-as-a-service models," Jarnecki said.

However, Madeline Carr, a professor of global politics and cybersecurity at University College London, cast doubt on the whole notion of Hamas targeting Israel through cyberattacks.

"Israel is arguably one of the world's most sophisticated cyber states and the communications infrastructure in Gaza has been almost completely destroyed over the past 10 months," Carr told Newsweek. "There is very little in the way of phone connection, let alone the kind of internet speeds that would be required for any kind of sophisticated cyber attacks."

Carr said that it would be "extraordinary," under these extremely spartan conditions, if Hamas were able to divert sufficient technological resources toward launching cyber attacks against Israel.

She also questioned whether Israel would be able to trace these attacks back to their perpetrators.

"Any country in conflict quickly begins to attract and increase in attacks from diaspora, opportunists, and those who feel motivated in any other way," Carr said. "Attributing those attacks to particular actors is extremely difficult."

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