Recent cyber-attacks in Israel bring Unit 8200 into the public eye.

Saudi Arabian hackers launch attacks against Israeli e-commerce sites.

IDF brings its resources to bear to defeat this latest terrorist threat.

Israeli officials said on Friday they were concerned the country may be under cyber attack after a wave of credit card code thefts in the past week by a hacker who claims to be operating out of Saudi Arabia.

Credit card company officials said 14,000 numbers had been posted on line on Tuesday and another 11,000 on Thursday. However, they said some of the codes had expired and that the active cards were all being cancelled.

The hacker has identified himself as OxOmar and says he is part of a Saudi Arabian hacker team. In a post on Thursday he said he had leaked information about more than 400,000 Israelis and said the "Jewish lobby" was hiding the scale of the attack.

Israeli officials say the hacker has also released email addresses and passwords, but have yet to confirm where he is based.  "This incident should be treated as a cyber attack," Justice Ministry official Yoram Hacohen told the Ma'ariv daily.

Call me silly, but hacking Israel -- then posting about it to taunt the IDF -- is akin to walking into a bear's cave with a spatula with the intent of giving a spanking.  Sounds cool, but really dumb.

The data theft was one of the worst that Israel has said it has faced, and while the financial damage was reportedly minimal, the breaches have heightened concerns about the potential use of stolen information by Israel's enemies.

"These matters are worrisome," Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz told Israel Radio, calling the incident "a sample of the great danger out in cyberspace."

He added that Israel had "impressive capabilities" and was setting up an agency to deal with the issue, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged last year.

Impressive capabilities?  In typical Israeli fashion, that is what we would call a gross understatement.  Let me take this opportunity to introduce you to Israel's Unit 8200.

Unit 8200 is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit responsible for collecting signal intelligence and code decryption. It also appears in military publications as the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps.

It was established in 1952 using primitive surplus American military equipment. Originally, it was called the 2nd Intelligence Service Unit and then the 515th Intelligence Service Unit. In 1954, the unit moved from Jaffa to its current base at the Glilot junction.

But like all things Israeli, it has evolved and morphed into something incredible.  And at its heart is now one of the world's greatest cyber-warfare capabilities.

It has already engaged in some skirmishes, such as an unprecedented Arab attack on its Internet infrastructure during the winter war in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December 2008-January 2009.

Hamas sympathizers across the Arab world, as well as Iran, Turkey and the rest of the Muslim world, launched hundreds of cyberattacks on Israeli Web sites.

Israelis retaliated with a counteroffensive that culminated in the military breaching Hamas' al-Aqsa television network. That included an audio message in Arabic addressed to Gazans that said, "Hamas leaders are hiding and they left you on the front line."

The following day, Israelis hijacked the network's system again with a more elaborate message, an animated clip of Hamas leaders being gunned down with a warning that said "time is running out."

At its most effective, cyberwarfare is capable of shutting down a country's economy and its war-fighting capabilities by crippling its computer systems.

Much of the Israeli military's work in developing its cyberwarfare capabilities is shrouded in secrecy as it spars with foes who are also gearing up for this new and potentially crippling form of conflict.

But while Israel's work may be shrouded in secrecy, its work product is very well-known throughout the world.

That was evidenced when Israeli airborne jammers blacked out Syria's air defenses to clear the way for seven F-15s that destroyed a mysterious complex near the Turkish border in a pre-dawn raid Sept. 6, 2007. The complex is generally believed to have been a nuclear plant being built with the help of North Korea.

With that information comfortably locked away in the back of your mind, let's revisit the Saudi hacker's desire to walk into a bear's cave with a spatula.

The hacker wrote in his Web post: "So, I've started thinking of sending all Israeli credit cards I own which reaches 1M data."

"Enjoy it world! Purchase stuff for yourself online, buy anything you want," he added.

Dov Kotler, CEO of Isracard, a unit of Bank Hapoalim , said 5,200 credit card numbers listed by the hacker on Thursday, belonged to his customers.

The thefts have dampened Internet sales in Israel, media reports said, though no figures were immediately available. Israeli reports have indicated that most of the information stolen had been gleaned from online commercial sites.

If you happen to be a customer of Israeli e-commerce, watch your credit card statements and change your computer passwords -- as a precaution against credit card fraud.

If you happen to be a Saudi Arabian hacker attacking Israeli e-commerce, watch your back and change your address of record -- as a hedge against a shortened life expectancy.