Massive hack attack targets Israel electrical grid

A Tel Aviv power plant in November. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Israel’s electrical grid was hit earlier this week with one of the “largest cyberattacks” the country has ever seen while Israelis cranked up their heaters to ward off a cold snap, officials said.

The attack on Monday occurred during two days of record-breaking winter electricity consumption as temperatures dipped to below-freezing levels, the Jerusalem Post reports.

"I can tell you that the virus was identified and software was activated to neutralize it," Minister of Infrastructure, Energy and Water Yuval Steinitz told a security conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. "This is a fresh example of what we need to be prepared to face at any time.”

Steinitz, speaking at the CyberTech 2016 conference – which attracted state leaders, corporations, investors and entrepreneurs in the field of cybersecurity – said it was “one of the largest cyberattacks that we have experienced.”