Israel’s top cyber official says Iranian-linked cyber activity against Israel has sharply intensified, adding a digital front to the wider Iran crisis even as diplomats argue over next steps on de-escalation.
Yossi Karadi, director general of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate, told German newspaper Die Welt that Israeli authorities recorded about 4,800 hostile cyber incidents in June 2026, up from roughly 1,600 in June 2025. The Times of Israel reported the remarks Monday, quoting Karadi as saying that “there’s no ceasefire in cyberspace.”
Israel Says The Attacks Hit Far Beyond Government Systems
The reported surge is not limited to military or intelligence targets. Karadi said the activity has aimed at Israel’s critical infrastructure, central organizations, small and medium-sized companies, and members of the public. He cited law firms and accounting firms among the smaller targets, according to reports on the interview.
The Jerusalem Post, citing Reuters, reported that Karadi said critical infrastructure attacks had so far been fended off, while weaker corporate targets had sometimes suffered severe disruption, including wiped computer systems. He did not name the companies affected.
Karadi described Iran’s cyber apparatus as layered, with military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps units at the center and civilian or activist hackers operating below that level. He also pointed to online propaganda, including AI-generated animation videos, as part of the same information and cyber campaign.
Why It Matters In The Iran Crisis
The cyber warning lands as the Iran crisis remains unstable across several fronts. The United States and Iran have been publicly at odds over whether new talks are scheduled, while Gulf shipping, sanctions relief, and regional security arrangements remain tied to a fragile diplomatic process.
The digital front matters because it can continue even when open military action slows. Cyber operations are harder to verify in real time, easier to deny, and often aimed at civilian systems that sit outside traditional battlefields. That gives governments and aligned groups a way to keep pressure on an adversary without immediately triggering the same public escalation as missile or drone strikes.
Iran typically denies conducting hacking campaigns against other countries, while also reporting cyberattacks against itself. The latest Israeli comments should therefore be read as an official Israeli assessment rather than an independently confirmed count of Iranian state operations.
The Bigger Picture
Israel has warned for months that cyber threats are becoming a core part of its security challenge. Karadi said earlier this year that Israel needed to prepare for a fast-approaching cyber war, and the latest figures suggest officials now see that campaign as active and expanding.
For civilians and companies, the immediate risk is less dramatic than a regional missile exchange but still serious: wiped systems, leaked data, disrupted services, and propaganda campaigns designed to shape public perception during a crisis.
The clearest takeaway is that any pause in visible fighting will not necessarily mean the Iran crisis has cooled. If Israel’s figures are accurate, the conflict is already running heavily through servers, networks, and public information channels, where ceasefires are much harder to measure.