The number of Iranian cyberattacks against Israeli targets has surged dramatically since the start of the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive against Iran this year, according to a senior Israeli security official in an interview published Monday in the German newspaper Die Welt. Yossi Karadi, director of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, said that while authorities recorded around 1,600 hostile cyber incidents in January 2025 during Israel’s military operations against Iran, the number tripled to approximately 4,800 incidents in the current month of June.
2+“Some of these hacker groups are highly skilled,” Karadi noted, adding: “We are able to deal with them, but we must take them very seriously. Unlike the kinetic arena, in cyberspace there is no such thing as a ceasefire.”
According to Karadi, these computer attacks are directly targeting systems used by Israel’s critical infrastructure, major organizations, small and medium-sized businesses, and the general public. Among the smaller targets hit, the cyber chief listed law firms and accounting firms.
2+Karadi emphasized that so far, national defense systems have managed to block attempts to damage the core of the state’s infrastructure. “As of now—and we hope it stays that way—we have succeeded in repelling attacks on critical infrastructure,” he said. However, he noted that companies and organizations with weaker defenses that were breached easily ended the incident with their computer systems completely wiped out by the attackers. Karadi declined to name the specific companies affected during the current wave.
Meanwhile, the Iranian regime routinely and officially denies any involvement in conducting campaigns or pirate attacks against other countries, even as Tehran repeatedly reports extensive cyberattacks being carried out against its own government systems and infrastructure.
2+As a reminder, last week a Telegram channel associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence organization revealed dramatic details about the fate of Yahya Hosseini Panjaki, commander of the “Handala” cyber unit. According to the publication, Panjaki was killed in a targeted strike—attributed by assessments to Israel—during the last round of fighting on Iranian soil. This is the first time Iranian sources have publicly confirmed Panjaki’s senior role and the fact that he is no longer alive.