"Embarrassing mistake"

Israel: Head of cyber unit exposes himself

Israeli cyber soldiers (archive image)

(Bild: IDF)

Until recently, the identity of the head of the Israeli elite cyber unit "Unit 8200" was a well-kept secret for security reasons. Now he has stumbled over his own carelessness.

Yossi Sariel, the name of the now no longer anonymous brigadier general, made an "embarrassing security error", according to the British Guardian. Sariel inadvertently revealed his identity online, the newspaper revealed.

Email led to names
A book he published on the Amazon platform contained an anonymous email address. This leads to a private Google account in his name.

The newspaper quoted an Israeli army spokesperson as saying that the commander did not use the email address provided privately, but only in connection with the book. According to the Guardian, several sources confirmed that Sariel was the author of the book in question, which was published under a pseudonym. The pseudonym was probably not a particularly clever choice: It is "Brigadier General YS" and thus contains the initials of the head of the elite cyber unit.

According to Israeli media, the military called the disclosure of Sariel's personal data a mistake. The matter is therefore being investigated.

Unit already under pressure
According to the Guardian, Sariel occupies "one of the most sensitive roles in the military". The security error is likely to put further pressure on him, the newspaper speculated. His department, valued for its intelligence capabilities, is already under criticism for failing to anticipate the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7 last year.