According to top experts in the cybersecurity field, there has been a major security breach in the Shas Party's computerized election management system. This leaves it vulnerable to easy exploitation even for those with only a basic understanding of cybersecurity.
Following an anonymous leak received on the Cyber podcast hosted by Ido Kinan and Noam Rotem, it has been revealed that the system has been breached. This has not only compromised the data of Shas activists and supporters but has also compromised the information of all Israeli citizens who are eligible to vote. Following that, Ran Bar-Zik, a software architect at the company, verified the findings.
According to a report by Calcalist, the anonymous leaker discovered the vulnerability with an automated scanning tool that detects such weaknesses. This tool was used by the anonymous leaker to detect the vulnerability.
The information held in the system is just as disturbing as the breach itself: detailed personal details, such as family ties, phone numbers, and bank account numbers, not included in the voter register, of millions of Israeli citizens.
An online PHP-powered system debugging tool that has been available for nearly four years has been breached as a result of a known vulnerability, and a common browser is all that is needed to exploit this vulnerability, so sophisticated tools are not required to expose this weakness.
As soon as it is available for widespread use, the debugger should be disabled. It should only be enabled during the testing phase. Adding a few characters to a website address indicating the location of the debugger and performing a few other simple actions without requiring much computer knowledge is all it takes to penetrate the debugger when it remains active after the system is put into operation.
Even though the breach in question was blocked, it is impossible to determine whether the information in the system had been compromised before it had been patched. There is a concern regarding who might have all the personal information that is stored in the system. This is because it is easy to exploit, and it was found without much effort.
In response to the leak of data, Shas responds
Every time there is a round of elections, the Shas party receives a voter registration copy from the Ministry of Interior. This is the same for all the other parties in the country. During every election, it is required that the transmitted information, including all the details that have been added to it, is destroyed. All data included in it will be destroyed as well. Although this is the case, it seems that Shas has managed to retain the personal data of voters from the previous year's elections.
A professional and reliable electoral software operated by the Shas party for many years maintains a legally registered database as do all of Israel’s other parties. All of the information the Shas party holds has been legally collected, maintained, and complied with according to the law, backed up by cybersecurity experts that are the most knowledgeable in the field, the party spokesperson said in response to an inquiry by Haaretz.
The party explained that their attention was drawn to concerns that the database had been illegally accessed. Following the receipt of this information, they acted immediately by implementing several immediate changes to ensure the security of the entire database as soon as possible. Shas has conducted a thorough examination of the database systems to ensure that all information remains secure. As part of its ongoing inspection of the database systems, the party stated that "If any party is found to have violated the law, Shas will take appropriate action."
Elector, a platform used by Likud, leaks the personal information of its users
A similar incident occurred last year when a list of the names and phone numbers of 5,000 Likud activists was released online from the "Elector" platform, where they could be found on the Ghost in leak website, according to Israeli news agency Ynet.
There was a list uploaded by an anonymous source along with an email that circulated throughout many groups that stated that "The Likud's and Right's electoral system has been compromised." The list was sent by a source who identified himself as "an activist." The data will slowly leak out as the system is taken offline until the hackers are removed. Here are the first clusters of activists.
In a ruling issued by the Authority for the Protection of Privacy of the Ministry of Justice, it was determined that the Elector company, along with the Likud and Jewish Home parties which received technological services from the Elector company, had violated the Privacy Protection Law and the regulations governing its operation.
As a result of an enforcement procedure conducted by the Authority, it has been revealed that the election holder has violated the law in many ways, including in the security of its information systems, and in how they conduct itself as a holder of sensitive personal information, among other things.