June 29 (Reuters) - The number of cyberattacks launched by Iran against Israel has risen sharply since the start of the US-Israeli war against it this year, the German newspaper Die Welt quoted a senior Israeli security official as saying on Monday.

Yossi Karadi, director general of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, told the newspaper that Israeli authorities recorded about 1,600 hostile cyber incidents in June 2025 during Israeli military operations against Iran.

He stated that the number jumped during the same month of 2026 to about 4,800 incidents.

According to the German transcript of the interview, Karady added, "Some groups are highly skilled... We can deal with them, but we have to take them seriously. Unlike in the traditional military sphere, there is no ceasefire in cyberspace."

He noted that the attacks targeted systems used in Israel’s critical infrastructure, central organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and individuals, and said that law firms and accounting firms were among the smaller institutions that were attacked.

He continued, "So far, we have been able to repel attacks on critical infrastructure, and we hope to remain able to do so."

He added that it often ended with the computer systems of companies that were easy to hack being wiped, without mentioning any names.

Iran usually denies launching cyber piracy campaigns against other countries, while announcing the attacks it suffers.