Credit cards readers across Israeli stores, gas stations crash in cyberattack

Thousands of credit card readers across Israeli gas stations and supermarket chains malfunctioned on Sunday morning in what the company responsible for the readers' cyber safety called a suspected DDoS attack. 

Hyp Credit Guard told Israeli media outlets on Sunday that it had ruled out fears of a larger-scale cyberattack, adding that a suspected denial-of-service attack on communication suppliers is the likely cause of the malfunctioning across Israeli stores.

The company had since reported that the attack was over following an hour-long crash. 

"In the last hour, we experienced a DDoS attack on some of the company's services and the communication providers connected to us," Credit Guard said in a statement.

"At this point, the attack was blocked, and the service returned to normal operation. We are coordinating with all security agencies to ensure continued normal operation."

Iranian cyberattacks on Israeli civilian systems continues

This suspected cyberattack follows previous attempts made by Iran to penetrate Israeli cyber defenses. In October, a similar attack targeted the national credit-based payment system.

The attack on the system, operated by Sheba (Automated Bank Services), caused delays in approving debit card payments. However, Sheba reported that its core role in the national payment system remained intact, preventing widespread market impact.