Palestine: telecom sector targeted by cyberattacks

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has reported that the local telecommunications sector is being exposed to massive cyberattacks.

According to senior official Mohammad Alawi, the ministry has been subjected to a series of attacks since Tuesday morning, the most prominent of which was a distributed denial-of-service attack. This targeted many institutions and facilities hindering the service provision.

“The ministry and its staff in the Information and Network Security Department dealt with the incident and responded to this attack,” confirmed Alawi, “minimising the impact and working on continuing services provided by the ministry.”

Meanwhile, Laith Daraghmeh, Director General of the Ministry’s General Department of Communications, pointed out that the latest attacks are unlike those witnessed in recent times. He stressed that specialists within the ministry are working around the clock to address the issue and protect user data.

Daraghmeh said that citizens have complained about the continued disruption of their communication and Internet services during the past three days. “We call on all citizens to cooperate and be patient, and to obtain information on the matter from official sources only, while avoiding the use of unsafe websites on the Internet.”

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