Hacker steals data of 7 million Israelis
A hacker using the name "Sang Cancel" claimed to have stolen the personal information of about 7 million Israelis, or 80% of the total population, according to the Jerusalem Post website.
The attacker said he stole data from the CITY4U website, which local authorities in Israel use to process payments such as property taxes, fines and utility bills.
The population of Israel is about 9.4 million.
If the allegations are true, the newspaper says, the hack will be one of the most serious breaches of privacy in Israel's history.
The Time of Israel newspaper quoted the National Internet Administration as saying it was investigating the hacking allegations, but it was possible that the leak of the document was outdated information.
The attacker claimed for the first time that he hacked into Israeli municipalities on Sunday in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
Starting Monday, he posted photos of documents he said supported his claims, including Israeli identity cards, driver's licenses and tax bills.
The documents were sent on Telegram and online hacking forums.
Israel, a frequent target of hacker attacks, presents itself as a "new country" due to the size of its technology sector, which employs about 10 percent of the country's workforce.
And last year, the Israeli authorities announced that they had thwarted a cyber attack orchestrated by a foreign group targeting strategic military industries that annually export billions of dollars.
Hackers have seized the identities of "managers, CEOs, and senior human resources officials to contact employees of leading companies in the defense industry," according to the ministry.
They contacted both employees and recruiters and offered them job opportunities while at the same time trying to access data on their computers to "obtain sensitive information".
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