A hacking group with ties to Iran, who goes by Anonymous, has claimed responsibility for infiltrating the computer network of the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, a key Israeli nuclear facility that houses a nuclear reactor. Amidst their protest against the war in Gaza, the hackers claimed to have stolen and released thousands of documents online, including PDFs, emails, and PowerPoint slides from the nuclear research center. The group posted on social media claiming that they “carried out the operation in such a way that no civilians were harmed” but also that the operation was very dangerous, and while they didn’t intend to set off a nuclear explosion, they encouraged that the nearby city of Dimona and the town of Yeruham should consider evacuating. The latter message was likely a scare-tactic, and while they were able to compromise the IT network, there has been no evidence to suggest the hackers have managed to compromise the facility’s more secure operational technology (OT) networks. The incident has not yet elicited a public response from the Israeli embassy in London. Researchers have identified similarities between the attacks carried out by this Anonymous group and those associated with Iranian cyber groups, suggesting a possible connection or even shared identity among these threat actors. The cybersecurity landscape in Israel has been under strain since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, with a surge in cyberattacks from various threat actors. These attacks have included data breaches, system intrusions, disinformation campaigns, and targeting of industrial control systems, reflecting cybersecurity threats as an active and likely future component to modern warfare. Analysis of the recently disclosed documents indicates that while they are not highly sensitive, they could potentially facilitate future cyber threats like phishing. The company emphasizes that the release of these documents should not be seen as an indication of the hackers’ ability to control the nuclear facility’s critical operational systems.