The websites of two government ministries in Bahrain have briefly became inaccessible after a cyberattack took them down, purportedly over the island kingdom’s stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The websites of two government ministries in Bahrain briefly became inaccessible Tuesday night after a cyberattack took them down, purportedly over the island kingdom's stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
A statement posted online by a self-described group calling itself Al-Toufan, or “The Flood” in Arabic, claimed hacking the Foreign Ministry and the Information Affairs Ministry's websites. Both later became accessible.
Another statement included scans of passports for American citizens and a top Russian diplomat in Bahrain that allegedly came from the hack.
A Bahrain government statement sent later Tuesday night to The Associated Press acknowledged that “a number of government agency websites have today been the target of malicious cyberattacks.”
“The government of Bahrain has implemented a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy and framework to address such threats,” the statement said. "Government operations were unaffected by the attacks, and work is ongoing to restore access to the targeted websites.”
Bahrain reached a diplomatic recognition deal with Israel in 2020 alongside the United Arab Emirates. The island kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, has drawn repeated criticism from Iran, its regional arch rival, over that.