A group claiming to be Saudi Arabian hackers is posting the credit card information and other identifying data of thousands of Israelis online , prompting an international investigation . The group first posted a message Tuesday , which included claims that 400,000 credit card numbers had been published . `` Hi , it 's OxOmar from group-xp , largest Wahhabi hacker group of Saudi Arabia , '' read a statement posted on an Israeli sports website the group hacked into . `` We are anonymous Saudi Arabian hackers . We decided to release first part of our data about Israel . '' The Bank of Israel released a statement Tuesday saying that based on information from credit card companies , only about 15,000 credit card numbers were exposed , and those cards were blocked for use in Internet and telephone purchases . Thursday , the group claimed to have released another 11,000 credit card numbers and threatened to publish many more . Yoram Hacohen , the head of the Israeli Law , Information and Technology Authority at the Israeli Ministry of Justice , told CNN in a phone interview Friday he 's more concerned about the private information that was released , not the credit card numbers . The publishing of information such as e-mail addresses , phone numbers , home addresses and passwords could lead to identification theft , he said . Hacohen said the hacking is a criminal act against citizens of the world , since some of the information exposed belongs to Jews worldwide , not only Israelis . Israeli authorities have begun a criminal investigation , including a computer forensic probe to search for electronic evidence to try to locate the group , Hacohen said . The theft of personal information is a criminal act under Israel 's Privacy Protection Law . He acknowledged that in the digital world , offenders are very difficult to track , and authorities are asking for international help in the matter . `` The peculiar incident we are facing could be a bad joke , a youthful prank , a hate-driven terror attack for beginners or the cellars of the Iranian intelligence in Tehran , '' wrote Israeli columnist Ben Caspit in the Maariv newspaper Friday , outlining the difficulties of trying to identify the hackers . Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu created a National Cyber Headquarters in May 2011 , noting the emergence of cyber attacks that could `` potentially paralyze life systems -- electricity , communications , credit cards , water , transportation , traffic lights . '' He said in December that the new agency -- along with a rocket defense system and a physical fence -- would help protect Israel against its enemies . An official with the prime minister 's office said the National Cyber Headquarters is currently in the process of being set up .
The hackers claim to be from Saudi Arabia . Only about 15,000 credit card numbers were stolen , the government of Israel says . Israel is currently setting up a National Police Force to investigate such crimes .