Israel faces rising cyber threats from Iran as 'Operation Roaring Lion unfolds,' cyber chief warns

While the Israeli and U.S. militaries have severely degraded Iran’s military capabilities, cyberspace has become an increasingly important battlefield between Iran and Israel.

The head of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate (INCD), Yossi Karadi, hailed the ongoing American and Israeli military offensive against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“Operation Roaring Lion is an exceptionally just war, but it is being fought on two parallel fronts, against Iran and against cybercrime,” Karadi told media representatives on Tuesday. He warned that Israel has become one of the world’s top targets for digital attacks, largely perpetrated by Iranian-backed hackers. He noted that the Iranian-backed group Handala has become one of the leading anti-Israel actors in the cyber battlefield.

“Handala amplifies events to generate fear,” he explained. “They often recycle old material to create psychological terror. Iran and Hezbollah cooperate closely in this arena,” Karadi assessed.

Earlier this week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that it had shut down four Tehran-linked domains engaged in cyberwarfare against the U.S. and its allies. The domains were reportedly operated by Handala.

"Iran thought they could hide behind fake websites and keyboard threats to terrorize Americans and silence dissidents,” FBI Director Kash Patel announced. “We took down four of their operation's pillars and we're not done. This FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyberattacks, and will bring the full force of American law enforcement down on them.”

Karadi identified security cameras as a vulnerable target for Iranian-linked hackers, describing them as “a very high-quality intelligence-gathering tool” for Iran's intelligence agencies.

Dana Toren, INCD;s head of operations, recently urged Israeli businesses and private individuals with security cameras to boost their security, warning that failure to do so could undermine Israeli national security.

“Owners of security cameras must ensure they cannot be accessed directly from the internet, immediately change default passwords, update security versions and limit their exposure to public areas. These days, an unsecured connection is not only a privacy risk but a security risk, and it requires responsible technological conduct,” Toren said.

In January, Karadi warned that Israel, the U.S. and the free world faced the growing threat of AI-fueled cyberwarfare by hostile actors.

“We cannot choose when the next war will break out – but we can choose to be ready. The government sets strategy and leads national defense, but it is Israel’s cyber industry, with its innovation, agility, and operational experience, that enables Israel to be prepared for the first cyber-based war,” Karadi said at the time.

While Israel remains at the top of the ayatollah regime’s cyber targets, it is also conducting cyber attacks against the United States and other nations.

In 2024, the former INCD chief, Gaby Portnoy, warned that Iran and its allies had become a global cyber threat.

“We have identified that Iran is attacking its allies and other countries for information extortion and damaging digital services,” Portnoy told the audience at the Cyber Week annual conference. “The information stolen from government systems is then used for Iranian cyberterrorism,” he warned.