Cyber jihadists to target UK?
A cyber war is going on between Arab hackers (many of them in Saudi Arabia) and Israelis. Some Muslim clerics have endorsed the Arab cyber attacks as 'electronic jihad'.
In January Saudi hackers published details of over 400,000 Israelis and tens of thousands of credit card numbers. A few days later, Arab hackers attacked Israeli websites, including those of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the national carrier El Al, several banks and hospitals, Israel's fire and rescue services, and the Haaretz daily.
According to Memri magazine, Israeli and pro-Israeli hackers, in response, attacked the websites of the Saudi and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges, and published the details of Saudi credit cards and of thousands of Facebook accounts.
A number of Muslim clerics have issued fatwas sanctioning the cyber attacks on Israel, defining them as 'electronic jihad.' There were also some clerics who expressed reservations about the hackers' activity on the grounds that it was dangerous and morally questionable.
Observers are concerned that the expertise gained in the current online war between Israelis and Saudis means it is only a matter of time before that the West, including the UK, can expect attacks from cyber jihadists.
