President Rivlin’s address to UJIA centenary event marred by cyber attack

UJIA’s massive online Centenary Celebration fell victim to a cyber attack on Wednesday night which saw hundreds of participants kicked off the platform or prevented from joining the virtual event.

In a statement released on Thursday, the charity said it was “incredibly disappointed” to have been informed by the company operating our event platform that the event was disrupted by a targeted cyber attack.

“As a result, with the event already underway and some of the 1,000+ registered guests already logged in, people began to be logged off the platform and were unable to log back in due to their registrations becoming disabled. Others who had yet to log in and whose registrations were also disabled were prevented from entering the platform altogether. Approximately 270 households were able to experience the event as planned.

UJIA moved to reassure those affected by the attack that “the only information that might have been accessible would have been email addresses of those who had registered. However, we have been assured that whilst the attack resulted in a temporary impact on the event log-in process, no data has been compromised.”

The event, which included a speech by Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, and a performance from Israeli singer-songwriter Idan Raichel, is now available on YouTube.

UJIA chief executive Mandie Winston said: “We are truly grateful and deeply moved by the outpouring of support and increased donations we have received following this occurrence and from the positive feedback about the show from those who have been able to watch it… In the last 100 years, UJIA has helped our community and Israel overcome many obstacles and with your support, we will overcome this.”

Watch the UJIA Centenary Celebration here: