A major cyberattack hit Israeli payment processing systems causing major disruptions across Israel on Sunday, leaving numerous businesses unable to process card payments at gas stations, supermarkets, and other retail locations.
The incident, which lasted approximately one hour, affected Hyp Credit Guard's payment gateway through a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that interrupted communications between card terminals and payment systems. Multiple major businesses and services were impacted, including Maccabi health fund, Gett taxi service, Wolt food delivery, and public transportation payment platforms.
"In the last hour, we experienced a DDoS attack on some of the company's services and the communication providers connected to us," Hyp Credit Guard stated after resolving the issue. The company confirmed that while services were temporarily disrupted, no personal or financial data was compromised during the incident.
The attack comes amid heightened cyber threats against Israeli infrastructure, with cybersecurity experts noting a 100% increase in attacks on Israeli companies compared to last year. While the specific perpetrators remain unconfirmed, Channel 12 news and Army Radio reported that an Iran-linked hacker group claimed responsibility for the incident.
This attack follows previous cyber campaigns against Israeli financial infrastructure, including an October incident that caused debit card delays but failed to impact the core payment system operated by Sheba (Automated Bank Services).
The timing of the attack appears connected to ongoing military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, reflecting the growing intersection of cyber warfare with regional conflicts. Israeli cybersecurity firm Check Point attributes the majority of recent cyberattacks against Israeli targets to Iranian sources.
After implementing countermeasures, Hyp Credit Guard restored normal operations and is now coordinating with security agencies to prevent future incidents.