Hackers Target Technion, Demand Huge Sum in Bitcoin

YERUSHALAYIM —

Computer servers at the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa were targeted by a cyberattack Sunday, a spokesperson for the university confirmed in a statement.

The institute’s website went down and students were asked to log off.

According to Walla! News, the cyberattack was carried out by a group called Darkbit, which demanded 80 bitcoins from Technion, which is equivalent to $1,747,971. Technion, which is the flagship of scientific research in Israel and trains thousands of high-level engineers every year, apologized for the incident.

“Technion was hacked. The hackers punished us for the ‘apartheid’ regime. All systems are not accessible and we have lost our data. Therefore, we have to temporarily stop our human resources procedures. Our most sincere apologies to all colleagues, partners and those who trust us,” Technion said on its social media account.

“Apparently, the group attacked Technion for nationalistic reasons. They demand a payment of 80 bitcoins in order to free the computers from the ransomware that infected them,” cyberintelligence researcher Tom Malka told Walla.

“It is likely that a cyber incident response team will investigate this event, verify the number of infected computers, find the penetration point and the date the attackers first gained access to the computers, and close the loophole. which allowed the attackers to take control of the computers. If the hackers still do not have real control of the computer system and the security hole is closed, it is recommended not to pay the ransom,” he added.

“A Technion hack is an earthquake. We have long been warning of a dramatic rise in the number of hacks in businesses and organizations, only a few of which reach the media,” said Anar Yazraeli, Head of Information Security at TORQ Corporation.