Israel stops attempted cyberattack on defense companies

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- An attempted cyberattack on Israeli defense companies was stopped, the country's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.

Government officials said the attack came from an "international cyber group called 'Lazarus,'" which used fake profiles on the social media platform LinkedIn in an attempt to gain access to computer systems.

"The Malamav [an agency of Israeli government security], in cooperation with other bodies in the security community, thwarted a cyberattack against leading defense industries in the State of Israel," the Defense Ministry said in a Twitter message.

The scheme aimed to send corrupt computer files hidden in job offers from impersonated CEOs and human resources offices at Israeli high-tech firm in order to eventually gather sensitive information, officials said.

Israel did not identify a foreign country as the attacker, but the United States has linked "Lazarus" to North Korea. Israeli officials also did not name the companies involved in the potential security breaches.

The cyberattacks were discovered in real time, with no interruption to the work of the defense companies, the Defense Ministry said.

The country's Security Directorate has launched an investigation with other security agencies and the defense industry.