An Iranian cyberattack infiltrated thousands of Israeli websites, leaving threatening messages; The attack is said to be in response to an Israeli cyberattack earlier this month; An imminent Israeli response is expected.

As Iran and Israel continue to exchange cyberattacks, something that has excelled in the last couple of months, Iran is now responsible for the most recent attack as of Wednesday night. According to reports, Iran launched a significant cyberattack that affected thousands of Israeli websites.

The Israel National Cyber Directorate stated on Thursday that “An initial investigation of the incident involved a surface-level attack on the websites of private entities in Israel, which were done through a single company that hosts all the sites (Upress).”

After infiltrating the Israeli sites, Iranians left threatening messages and videos in replacement of the original content. Messages such as, “the countdown to Israel’s destruction has begun.”, appeared on several Israeli websites. This message was often accompanied by a photo depicting the destruction of Tel Aviv. An Iranian group who self-identifies as the “Hackers of Saviour” has taken credit.

Some of the reported entities that were affected by this attack include several food chains, the website of Nitzan Horowit, leader of the Meretz party, and even Israel’s world-renown coffee company, Aroma.

The Israeli National Cyber Bureau is continuing to look into the matter, and it is expected that an Israeli response is imminent.