Israeli government websites crashed on Monday night as part of a major cyberattack that some local reports blamed on Iran, hours after the Islamic Republic claimed to have foiled a sabotage plot by the Mossad against the Fordow nuclear enrichment site.
Iranian reports cited a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence unit saying that it had arrested a Mossad cell after an employee at the site, who was recruited by the Israeli spy agency, was found attempting to sabotage the enrichment plant.
Tehran regularly claims to have thwarted Mossad attacks against its facilities. The regime also claims Israel has killed several nuclear scientists.
Fordow, an underground facility upon which a mountain sits, is Iran’s most active site for uranium enrichment after the Natanz facility. It’s also believed by Israel to be the site that would enrich uranium to above weapons-grade.
Later on Monday, Israeli officials said a “massive” cyberattack had downed a broad range of websites with gov.il extensions.
“Operations have been carried out by communications companies in order to return the service as soon as possible, and the service is gradually returning,” the Communications Ministry said.
“The ministry will continue to monitor [the situation] until full restoration,” it added.
⚠️ Confirmed: A significant disruption has been registered on multiple networks supplied by #Israel's leading providers Bezeq and Cellcom as the country's defense authorities and National Cyber Directorate declare a state of emergency 📉 pic.twitter.com/lcPyeLvPor
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) March 14, 2022
Israeli media speculated that the cyberattack was in retaliation for the sabotage of Fordow.
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