Predatory Sparrow operation ends hiatus amid Israel-Hamas conflict

CyberScoop reports that suspected Israel-linked hacking group Predatory Sparrow has reemerged after an almost year-long hiatus amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian military group Hamas. In a message on Telegram announcing its return, the sophisticated Predatory Sparrow operation, which previously launched significant cyberattacks against Iran, included a link redirecting to the website of Iranian state-backed media Mehr News Agency, as well as a reference to the Gaza Strip. "What makes Predatory Sparrow so brilliant is that each activity signals greater capabilities by virtue of their restraint. We could've, but we didn't, so don't make us, 'cause we can. Hacktivists' fronts temporarily taking down websites for headlines look like school children in comparison," said SentinelLabs Senior Director Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade. Such a development comes after pro-Russian hacktivist operations Killnet and Anonymous Sudan revealed plans to launch cyberattacks against Israeli infrastructure amid the conflict. "Most of the hacktivist groups that we are currently observing are primarily involved in defacements and [distributed denial-of-service] attacks. Only a handful of incidents, such as the one with the exploitation of an API vulnerability, can cause more significant harm and risks," said Group-IB Threat Intelligence Unit Head of Cybersecurity Investigations Oleg Dyorov.