The Cyber Horus Group may be associated with Egyptian security authorities, but it might also be an independent group of nationalist Egyptians, angry at Ethiopia’s perceived bullying on an issue of such immense national importance-the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. States conducting operations are less vulnerable to retaliation as cyberattacks are often low-cost and low-risk. Indeed, plausible deniability is an inherent feature of cyberwarfare technologies the anonymity intrinsic to the internet is an important strategic advantage in the cyber domain. There is no evidence that directly links the hack and defacement of the Ethiopian government websites with the Egyptian state. While many other developments established a strong prior willingness to excommunicate Qatar, the incident demonstrates the far-reaching repercussions of basic security vulnerabilities in the digital era.
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In 2017, the relatively unsophisticated hack of state-owned TV station Qatar News Agency eventually contributed to a regional diplomatic rift. However despite the simplicity, low-tech operations can have serious consequences. Government websites can be particularly vulnerable as they are oftentimes outdated and not well-maintained. The defacements themselves were low-tech the hacking and defacing of websites is a common and unsophisticated form of cyberattack.
As Egypt’s crises with its immediate neighbors have mounted significantly in recent years, so too has the country’s willingness to use subversive cyber elements for statecraft. The attack on these 13 Ethiopian government websites during a time of escalating tension between Ethiopia and Egypt demonstrates an emerging flirtation with offensive cyber tools as instruments of foreign policy-as well as Egypt’s cyber limitations. The group wrote on the hacked pages: “If the river’s level drop, let all the Pharaoh’s soldiers hurry and return only after the liberation of the Nile.” They warned, “engaging with Egypt in a war may cost you more than the lives of an Ethiopian people,” and ended with the hashtags “#God_Bless_Egypt” and “#God_Bless_Egyptian_president.” The “Cyber Horus Group,” as the hackers called themselves, left nationalistic messages with pharaonic-themed inscriptions and music.
The targets were diverse, from seemingly innocuous sites such as Ethiopia’s Educational Evolution Office, the Statistics Centre, and the National Lottery Administration, to more sensitive targets like the Police Commission and Ethiopia’s Official Government Gazette. In June 2020, at least 13 websites affiliated with the Ethiopian government were hacked and defaced.