Channel 12 reported on Friday a spike in Iranian cyberattacks targeting strategic Israeli assets, warning of further escalation in the coming days.
According to the report, heightened security tensions have coincided with a sharp rise in phishing campaigns and coordinated attempts to penetrate sensitive systems. Among them was a recent effort to breach the data of Clalit Health Services.
Speaking to the Israeli network, Gil Messing, Chief of Staff at Check Point Software Technologies, warned that the psychological dimension of these operations is set to intensify, stressing the need for stronger defenses alongside heightened public awareness of manipulation tactics.
Messing noted that Tehran has redirected roughly two-thirds of its cyber capabilities toward operations against ‘Israel’.
The Israeli Channel 12 reported that the Clalit Health Services’ data was targeted in a hacking attempt two days prior, quoting Messing as saying that cyberattacks often precede military activity and also have a psychological impact.
He further explained that Iranian cyber units, including those linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, operate along two main tracks: one targeting critical infrastructure and data-rich institutions, and another focused on psychological warfare through coordinated messaging and social media campaigns designed to erode public confidence and create a sense of insecurity.
Earlier on Wednesday, Handala hacker group linked to Iran said on Wednesday that it had infiltrated the files of Israel’s largest healthcare network, Clalit, the group’s latest breach of Israeli systems.
Handala Hacker Group has scored another direct hit on the zionist entity, this time targeting Clalit, the regime’s largest healthcare organization and the core of its civilian medical infrastructure.
— Thomas Keith (@iwasnevrhere_) February 26, 2026
The breach tore open Clalit’s internal network and exposed full patient… pic.twitter.com/FG3Dgnkvdr
Handala posted on social media that it had “released the sensitive medical data of more than 10,000 patients from this organization.” It said the hack had “delivered a devastating blow to the core of the Zionist regime’s healthcare system.”
Source: Hebrew media (translated and edited by Al-Manar)