Cybersecurity analysts at Check Point Software Technologies are warning of a sharp rise in ideologically motivated cyberattacks. The Kurdish hacking group Hezi Rash, also known as the “Black Force,” carried out approximately 350 DDoS attacks between August and October 2025, targeting organizations in Japan, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Iraq, and Germany — an unprecedented volume for a group of its size.
Hezi Rash’s attacks are fueled by ideological and religious motives rather than financial gain. They often come as a response to symbolic provocations — such as a Japanese anime depiction of a burning Kurdish flag, which was followed by a wave of attacks on Japanese anime platforms and animation studios.
“Hezi Rash represents a new evolution of hacktivism — swift, ideological, and driven by automation. We are witnessing the ‘weaponization of attention’: symbolic events are rapidly being converted into global cyberattacks,”
said Daniel Sadeh, Cyber Threat Specialist at Check Point External Risk Management.
The New Wave of Hacktivism
Check Point researchers observe that hacktivism is shifting from low-impact symbolic activities to highly organized, automated cyberattack campaigns. Hezi Rash uses tools and infrastructure once available only to organized crime groups or state-sponsored actors, including DDoS-as-a-Service (DaaS) platforms like EliteStress and toolkits such as DDoSia and Abyssal DDoS v3. The group also collaborates with other hacking entities — including Killnet, Keymous+, and NoName057(16) — forming an international network where ideology intersects with technical expertise.
Analysts warn that Hezi Rash’s activity highlights how cyber conflict is moving beyond national borders and traditional economic incentives. Small groups are increasingly gaining access to technologies that enable them to attack public infrastructure, private companies, and media organizations using open-source tools and AI. Check Point cautions that such actors could soon pose a real threat to government institutions and businesses across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Source: CEO.com.pl
