A glimpse into the world of Gaza’s cyber pirates
Home to more than 2,000 hackers, the Gaza Strip is no longer the isolated place it used to be, with rising cyberattacks driven by national and personal motives.
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Operating from a Rafah suburb south of the Gaza Strip, a young man under the pseudonym Salem Mohammed has been involved in cyber piracy with his local group known as “Hackers Special Elite” for more than eight years.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Salem, 24, said, “I’ve been a hacker since 2008, conducting several infiltrations. In 2014, I broke into a Brazilian airport’s landline and made a profit of 13,000 euros [$14,260].”
Salem, who changed his group’s name from Kira to Hackers Special Elite in 2014, revealed that on April 7, and along with seven Arab and international groups, he will be taking part in cyberattacks targeting international and Israeli organizations considered hostile to Palestinians and Arabs.
Salem provided Al-Monitor with videos in which he explains a number of cyberattacks his group has launched, including one against a Polish telecom company on Jan. 5.
