Israeli cybersecurity firm Sygnia has released a report exposing the activities of a global financial theft operation it has named Elephant Beetle, the company announced Wednesday.

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Sygnia's Incident Response (IR) team has spent two years tracking the Elephant Beetle threat group.

The report explains that Elephant Beetle targets legacy Java applications running on Linux-based machines as an initial means of entry. Then, over several months, uses over 80 unique tools and scripts to discreetly expand its foothold and study the internal financial systems of the compromised organization.

In a third phase, Elephant Beetle inputs fraudulent transactions that it hides among the organization's ongoing activity, stealing as much as millions of dollars over time.

Because relatively small amounts are stolen in each instance, the threat group has been able to operate virtually undetected.

The relatively small amounts of money stolen in each incremental instance allows the threat group to avert suspicion and operate virtually undetected, focused mainly in the Latin American market.

Sygnia warns that Elephant Beetle could expand its attacks to organizations worldwide. The company's experts have already identified a breach in the Latin American operations of a US-based company.

"Elephant Beetle is a significant threat due to its highly-organized nature and the stealthy pattern with which it intelligently learns victims' internal financial systems and operations," says Arie Zilberstein, VP of Incident Response at Sygnia.

"Even after initial detection, our experts have found that 'Elephant Beetle' is able to lay low, but remain deeply embedded in a compromised organization's infrastructures, enabling it to reactivate and continue stealing funds at any moment. Particularly in the wake of widespread vulnerabilities like Log4j that are dominating the industry conversation, organizations need to be apprised of this latest threat group and ensure their systems are prepared to prevent an attack," Zilberstein warns.

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Thousands of 5.56-caliber bullets were stolen from an IDF reserve barracks in the north of the country, in the Ein Zeitim area. As is customary in such instances, the IDF has launched an investigation.

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On Jan. 2, more than 90,000 bullets were stolen from a bunker at an IDF training base at Tze'elim; on Jan. 6 a vehicle was stolen from the Tze'elim parking lot; on Feb. 3 communications equipment were stolen from a container at Tze'elim; on Feb. 5, general military equipment was stolen during a break-in at the Natan Camp near Beersheba; and on Feb. 7 more ammunition was stolen from the Sde Teiman base.

In 2020, about 80 weapons were stolen from IDF bases on the Israel-Lebanon border. In 2017, 33 weapons were stolen from the Sdei Teiman base.

Consequently, the IDF has established new procedures and budgeted millions of shekels for improving security at IDF bases, which have been targeted by criminal elements.

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Thieves have stolen an iron cross outside a church in the northern Galilee where Christians believe that Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, a church official reported.

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Last week, vandals pried the iron cross out of a basalt rock altar outside the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes in Tabgha, at the Sea of Galilee, said Georg Roewekamp, as reported by AFP.

Roewekamp, who represents the German Association of the Holy Land that owns the property where the church is located, denounced an "anti-Christian" act.

"It shows that people can invade and desecrate our property," he told AFP.

The Israel Police said it had launched an investigation into the incident.

The church at Tabgha – an Arabization of its original Greek name, Heptapegon – has been targeted before. In 2015, Jewish vandals torched the church, causing extensive damage, and spray-painted graffiti.

Roewekamp said the cross measured some 15 centimeters long (about six inches) and was embedded in a basalt rock altar at an outdoor prayer place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

He said vandals might have arrived by boat, adding that he had little hope of finding the cross.

"Because the cross was fixed very well in the basalt stone, it was removed … not by coincidence," he added.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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A horrifying rape of a 10-year-old girl at her Negev home in the middle of the night and a recent breach of the perimeter of Nevatim Air Force Base by a suspected thief fleeing the police have prompted renewed discussion about the lawlessness in southern Israel. But these two cases are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to break-ins by members of the Bedouin community in recent weeks. It seems they are becoming more audacious and taking bigger risks than they used to.

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This is a quick run-down of the last few weeks of criminal events in the Negev: On Jan. 2, more than 90,000 bullets were stolen from a bunker at an IDF training base at Tze'elim – over a ton of ammunition that was taken in a sophisticated, well-organized operation. On Jan. 6 a vehicle was stolen from the Tze'elim parking lot, caught by security camera. A tracking device helped police locate the vehicle near the Bedouin village Bir Hadaj. On Jan. 17, a group of Bedouin were arrested for throwing rocks at Tze'elim base, and on Jan. 20 a drill at the base was halted because Bedouin had penetrated the range of live fire. On Feb. 3 communications equipment were stolen from a container at Tze'elim. On Feb. 5, general military equipment was stolen during break-in at the Natan Camp near Beersheba; and on Feb. 7 more ammunition was stolen from the Sde Teiman Base. During the last incident, the thieves throw a stun grenade at the soldiers.

The peak came in the incident at Nevatim, when a suspect who was fleeing police breached the secure Israeli Air Force base and spent hours there. Not only the military is suffering – civilians are increasingly the targets of crime. At the start of this week, the Israel Police reported that it had arrested a ring of suspects responsible a number of break-ins at Israeli homes in the Negev. In one incident, the robbery turned into a sexual assault on a little girl who was asleep in her room

Residents of the Negev are increasingly distressed at the growing crime, and the issue is frequently discussed.

"The feeling is that there is total lawlessness," a number of Negev residents tell Israel Hayom. "If the great IDF can't manage to protest itself, is it any wonder that they [Bedouin criminals] come to private homes and do whatever they want?"

Others lay it out plainly: "There is an atmosphere of degeneration and fear, a feeling that is growing stronger because of the COVID crisis and the sense of uncertainty that is hanging over everyone, anyway."

IDF reservists called up to train in the area express similar feelings.

"I won't drive my car to [reservist] training anymore," says Arik Greenstein, a reservist in the Armored Corps and the leader of a protest movement by reservists who are calling for an end to lawlessness at Tze'elim.

"My friends had cars stolen, and that's just a drop in the bucket. We're helpless against practiced thieves who are just getting more daring. If one guard at night used to be enough, today we need to have four, and even that doesn't help. Their audacity is something else," he says.

Greenstein directs his criticism at the IDF leadership. "Why is the guard on duty always blamed, even though no one gives him the tools to protect himself? Why doesn't the chief of staff grab the commander of Tze'elim and the Southern Command by the ears and scream at them that this situation won't go on? Morale is being hurt. How can we win a war if we can't beat a bunch of thieves?"

A relatively new phenomenon

Discussions with high-ranking officers and older soldiers reveal that crime of this type is a relatively new phenomenon, having popped up in the last two decades. In the past, it was customary to execute an arrest protocol during guard duty at army bases, especially when guarding ammunition stocks. The protocol entails calling upon the suspect to identify themselves, firing shots in the air, and eventually firing at the suspect. The protocol was exercised so frequently that in May 1995 a guard on duty at the ammunition warehouse at a paratroops base at Beit Lid fired at a squad of soldiers heading in his direction during a training drill, killing Lt. Yiftach Ottolenghi. Since then, open-fire protocol has been changed, and guards do not carry out the arrest protocol in cases like these. As incidents began to mount, and public criticism along with them, regulations were changed again in 2017 to allow a guard who spots a real-time theft of weapons to carry out the arrest protocol. However, guards are not allowed to arrest suspects spotted stealing ammunition.

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The Bedouin are worried, too

In an attempt to try and understand what has been happening at Tze'elim Base in the past few years, Israel Hayom spoke with the base's former deputy commander, Col. (res.) Yochai Ben-Yishai, who retired from the army in 2013.

"When I took on the role in 2011, the phenomenon was already at its height," he explains. "Almost every weekend people from the area would go into the area around the bunker [ammunition warehouse], find a spot far away from the guards, and steal whatever they could," he says. The bunker was outside the base, and even though a smart fence had already been built around the base itself, the ammunition was exposed.

The first thing Ben-Yishai did was take action to "stop the bleeding."

"When I understood it, I brought in an excavator to dig a deep channel around the bunker. I said, first of all, I'll solve the problem so it won't happen on my watch, and it really did lower the number of break-ins, but I knew it wasn't a long-term solution. It was clear that it wasn't a real solution," he says.

In attempt to find a more comprehensive solution, Ben-Yishai set up meetings with everyone involved.

"I went to the headquarters of the IDF ground forces and we held a meeting with all the officials: the commander of the Southern District for the Israel Police, representatives of the public prosecutors, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the INPA's open spaces 'green patrol' and anyone who was involved in the slightest. We said, 'Guys, this is a problem. What do we do?'"

But Ben-Yishai discovered he was on his own. "I realized that no one wanted to help. Everyone would only bring up 'no's'. The public prosecutors said not to open fire and explained why not. The police said they had no personnel. The bottom line is, it didn't work. In the end, you find yourself standing on a hilltop alone and everyone tells you, 'Deal with it.' It's total lawlessness, all the authorities shrug it off."

So what should be done? According to Ben-Yishai, "The IDF should reinstate the use of the arrest protocol for every theft of weapons or breach of military areas. You can't have a situation in which people climb into a tank. You can't have a situation in which they go into a company tent and get into a fight with soldiers. Next, people will wind up being killed. Apart from that, the police and the public prosecutors should take a different approach. Governability can be restored quickly."

Like the IDF soldiers serving in the area and residents of Jewish communities in the Negev, Bedouin residents are also worried about the situation.

"What is happening is very sad. We absolutely condemn it," Staff Sgt. (res.) Salama Adisan, a village elder from Bir Hadaj, tells Israel Hayom. "We are against the young people stealing and committing crimes, it goes against our values."

The IDF is working to contain the problem

Adisan says that the problem is that other than enforcement, the government does not have any solutions for the distress of the Bedouin the Negev. "If I don't cause the population to trust me as a leader, I can't be a leader," he says.

"When they come to demolish someone's home and no one listens to [them], I'm not building trust among the residents and I can't promote anything. The government knows how to enforce among us, but not how to take care of us. I call on the state of Israel to listen to us. Have a round table, meet us halfway and find solutions to these problems," he adds.

The IDF, meanwhile, sees the need to contain base breaches as a top priority. In January, surprise visits were conducted at 52 camps to assess their state of readiness and the IDF's ability to defend the camps. Among other things, the inspections looked at how well the camps were defended against theft. In addition, the military is also investing considerable resources in technology initiatives that include a project to protect IDF weapons and ammunition stores and smart arsenals.

In response to the claims voiced in this article, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said, "All the incidents described are being thoroughly investigated and handled by all the relevant authorities, along with the Military Police, which investigates each case separately. The ID takes these incidents seriously, and therefore Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi convenes the General Staff once a month to discuss containing incidents of theft, with an emphasis on theft of weapons and ammunition from IDF bases. As part of the actions the IDF is taking to strengthen base security, in 2017 the open-fire protocol was changed. The change was made allows guards to arrest suspects caught taking weapons."

The Israel Police said in response: "As part of the ongoing fight against property crimes in the area, the police are working every day of the year to carry out increased enforcement, both open and hidden, against gangs and criminals, in cooperation with all the relevant authorities."

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According to the indictment, Anat Dayan was employed as a caregiver for an 83-year-old resident of the city who had lost his sight. She is suspected of making personal purchases using the man's credit card, which he gave her to do his grocery shopping.

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Dayan is also accused of using the man's checks to withdraw money, which she used to pay off his credit card so he would not notice the fraudulent charges.

The man's son discovered the suspected financial exploitation and reported it to the police.

The prosecutor for the Southern District has asked that Dayan's remand be extended until the end of the legal proceedings.

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The man, a native of Azerbaijan, found the diamonds at a money changer's business.

In the ruling, Judge Shaul Avinur wrote that "naturally, a case of a person happening to find property worth over $500,000 is very unusual, and therefore it is difficult to discuss the policy of punishment [for such crimes.]"

Ali Amadov, 24, arrived in Israel with his parents last year so his father could undergo cancer treatment. While in Israel, Amadov and his parents rented an apartment in Bat Yam. A year ago, while the family were at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Amadov needed to change money and entered a money changing establishment in a shopping center next door to the hospital.

At the same time, a diamond courier arrived, carrying diamonds worth some $540,000 that were wrapped in plastic and inside a brown paper envelope.

When the courier left the money changer, he forgot the envelope on the counter. Amadov noticed the envelope but at first left it on the counter and left the business. A short while later, he returned, and while the business owner was out of the room, Amadov began eyeing the envelope. At one point, he even opened it and inspected the contents. He then took the envelope, rolled it up, and left.

Thanks to security camera footage, it took police less than a day to track down Amadov and arrest him. Amadov was found to be in possession of the diamonds the courier had been carrying, although stones worth some $140,000 had fallen out of the package.

During his trial, Amadov denied the allegations, even though he had been filmed taking the envelope from the money changer's.

Amadov's mother wrote to the Azeri foreign minister and asked that her son be treated fairly and be allowed to return to his native country soon. She said that she could not afford to continue supporting her son financially while he remained under detention in Israel and that Amadov had been prevented from attending the funeral of his father, who had succumbed to his illness.

The prosecution, however, wanted Amadov sentenced to two to three years, as well as fined.

According to Judge Avinur, all of Amidov's actions – which were caught by the business' security cameras – indicated criminal intent.

"This is a clear case of a 'theft of opportunity,' since given the circumstance, the defendant could very easily have located the owner of the diamonds if he had wanted to," Avinur wrote.

"The defendant himself admitted, if halfheartedly, to 'dropping' some of the diamonds and to taking steps to ascertain their worth," Avinur wrote.

Eventually, Avinur sentenced Amadov to nine months in prison but did not fine him or order him to pay compensation.

"The diamonds that were found were returned to their owner, and as for the rest [which Amidov lost], the owner was compensated by the insurance company, which has already sued the defendant for the money. Secondly, this is a citizen of a foreign country, who has been detained in Israel for nearly a year without being able to work or support himself, and has been dependent on the kindness of others," Avinur wrote.

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