Iran-Linked Hackers Breach Hebrew Language Academy Website in Cyberattack on Israel
On Wednesday, the website of the Academy of the Hebrew Language was compromised by Iran-linked hackers, who replaced its homepage with a threatening message. The defacement, claimed by the group "Handala," declared, "There is no need to learn Hebrew anymore. You won’t need it for much longer," accompanied by the group’s logo.
The attack is part of a broader wave of Iranian cyber operations targeting Israel amid ongoing regional tensions. According to cybersecurity firm Imperva (owned by Thales), recent assaults peaked at 1.2 million requests per second, aiming to overwhelm servers and disrupt services particularly in the financial sector, including banks and online systems.
In addition to the website breach, Handala circulated a propaganda video featuring deepfake footage of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as reported on Arab social media. The group has previously targeted high-profile Israeli officials, including the breach of Bennett’s and PMO chief Tzachi Braverman’s phones.
The incident underscores the escalating digital conflict between Iran-backed hackers and Israeli infrastructure, with both state and civilian entities facing persistent cyber threats.
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-889558
Imperva cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/imperva
"id": "IMP1773240479",
"linkid": "imperva",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "3/2026",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization's existence"{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Education',
'location': 'Israel',
'name': 'Academy of the Hebrew Language',
'type': 'Educational Institution'},
{'industry': 'Finance',
'location': 'Israel',
'name': 'Israeli Financial Sector (Banks, Online '
'Systems)',
'type': 'Financial Institutions'}],
'attack_vector': 'Website Exploitation, DDoS',
'data_breach': {'personally_identifiable_information': 'Possible '
'(high-profile '
"officials' data)"},
'description': 'On Wednesday, the website of the Academy of the Hebrew '
'Language was compromised by Iran-linked hackers, who replaced '
'its homepage with a threatening message. The defacement, '
"claimed by the group 'Handala,' declared, 'There is no need "
"to learn Hebrew anymore. You won’t need it for much longer,' "
'accompanied by the group’s logo. The attack is part of a '
'broader wave of Iranian cyber operations targeting Israel '
'amid ongoing regional tensions. The group also circulated a '
'propaganda video featuring deepfake footage of former Israeli '
'Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and current Prime Minister '
'Benjamin Netanyahu.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'High',
'operational_impact': 'Disruption of services, Website defacement',
'systems_affected': 'Website, Financial Sector Servers'},
'initial_access_broker': {'high_value_targets': 'Former PM Naftali Bennett, '
'PM Benjamin Netanyahu, PMO '
'Chief Tzachi Braverman'},
'motivation': 'Political, Propaganda, Disruption',
'references': [{'source': 'Imperva (Thales)'},
{'source': 'Arab Social Media'}],
'response': {'third_party_assistance': 'Imperva (Thales)'},
'threat_actor': 'Handala (Iran-linked)',
'title': 'Iran-Linked Hackers Breach Hebrew Language Academy Website in '
'Cyberattack on Israel',
'type': 'Website Defacement, DDoS, Data Breach'}