A pro-Palestinian hacking group has infiltrated the Israel Police’s data bank in response to Tel Aviv’s continued aggression on the Gaza Strip.
The Iranian cybercriminal group known as the “Handala Hacking Team” revealed in a Telegram update that it had stolen about 2.1 terabytes of data including 350,000 documents containing the Israeli police force’s personal files and psychological background.
Other sensitive information stolen included copies of gun licenses, email addresses, and personnel photos of law enforcement officers, a report from Iran’s state-run news agency PressTV said.
Handala also seized classified papers including details of crime suspects, convicted individuals, and sex offender employment permits.
After the hacking group’s announcement, the Israeli police denied such disruption to its infrastructure, saying that “no external party had access to the police’s information systems.”
“There is no indication that a hacking occurred or that information leaked from police systems,” the police force stated on X.
“The Israel Police operates advanced security measures and is constantly working to strengthen its defense systems, using the world’s leading technologies in the field of cyber.”
The Handala Cyber Group
Prior to its latest campaign, the Handala group carried out a series of “hacktivism” attacks on Israel’s federal bodies in retaliation for the country’s attack on Gaza.
Among its largest operations was a November 2024 assault on the Israeli publicly-traded communication device company Silicom, in “retribution” for the killing of Hamas Political Bureau Chairman Yahya Sinwar in October 2023.
In addition to the Israeli government’s sub-agencies, Handala also conducted cyberattacks on Tel Aviv’s prime minister, war cabinet minister, chief of staff, and ambassador offices.
In its previous activities, Handala published photographic evidence of its operations, coupling it with chain text messages sent to Israeli civilians.
