SOLDIERS in the Israeli army have had their smartphones hacked by the militant group Hamas posing as attractive young women, Israel’s military says. The men were sent flirty texts and photos from fake Israeli women and then lured into downloading an app that allowed their phones to be infiltrated. The Hamas militants posed as immigrants […]
SOLDIERS in the Israeli army have had their smartphones hacked by the militant group Hamas posing as attractive young women, Israel’s military says.
The men were sent flirty texts and photos from fake Israeli women and then lured into downloading an app that allowed their phones to be infiltrated.
The Hamas militants posed as immigrants with broken Hebrew, and used slang, pictures and voice notes to ‘seduce’ the Israeli soldiers and appear convincing.
After striking up friendships, the ‘women’ sent links which asked the soldiers to download apps that infected their phones with malware – a type of software that can attack smartphones and computers.
The three apps were called “Catch&See” “ZatuApp” and “GrixyApp” and allowed the soldiers to exchange photos with the fake women for a limited time, in a similar way to Snapchat.
After attempting to download the app, a virus would be installed which would give the hacker access to all of the phone’s data and allow them to record conversations.
Over the last few months, the Hamas militants attempted to seduce soldiers on social media platforms including Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
It was the third such attempt from Hamas to hack the soldier’s phones over the last three-and-a-half years.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an army spokesman, said the attack had been thwarted months ago and that there was “no substantial breach of information.”
He said: “[We] have been able to, using technology tools, locate and thwart an attempt by Hamas to introduce malware into Israeli soldiers’ phones and by doing so collect intelligence.”
However, he said the attack was “more advanced and sophisticated” than the last attempted attack in July 2018.
He added: “We see that they’re of course learning and upping their game.”
Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist group that has been waging war with Israel since 1987.
They have long called for the complete destruction of Israel and refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the Israeli state.
The group runs the Gaza Strip and has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, mostly through suicide bombings and rocket attacks.
Previously, a master hacker from Hamas hacked into the Israeli military’s drone system in 2012.
This enabled the terror group to target civilians and soldiers in real-time as it was firing rockets.
Maagad Ben Juwad Oydeh was convicted on several terror and cyber hacking charges by the Beersheba District Court in Israel in 2017.
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