17 Feb 2020; MEMO: The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, has hacked hundreds of Israeli soldiers’ smartphones, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported an Israeli army spokesperson stating on Sunday.
According to Haaretz, the spokesperson acknowledged that the Israeli army was not aware of any classified information being leaked to Hamas, however, Quds Press reported an Israeli army statement revealing that Hamas has used sophisticated hacking methods.
The Israeli army announced that Shin Bet succeeded to halt the flow of information obtained by Hamas, as soon as it discovered the hacking.
Recently, the information security department affiliated with Israeli intelligence has uncovered numerous attempts by Hamas to hack Israeli soldiers’ phones through social media, while also tempting them to download apps with viruses.
Quds Press reported the statement claiming that Hamas used telegrams for the first time to communicate with the Israeli soldiers, in addition to fake social media accounts.
The Israeli army has discovered previous hacking, but, according to the statement, did not disclose them in order to continue its hunt for the Hamas hackers.
The statement also affirmed that this is the first time that Israel could dismantle Hamas’ hacking attempts.
Haaretz recounted how Hamas’ hackers succeeded in the hacks: “Hamas turned to soldiers and officers – some of them in combat roles – via fake social media accounts ostensibly belonging to new female immigrants with a low level of Hebrew. The display photos for the fake profiles were deliberately enticing.
“During social media conversations the soldiers were sent a link which automatically downloaded an app to the soldier’s device, which, when clicked on, gave Hamas control over the cell phone without the soldiers’ knowledge.”
“This enabled the organisation to acquire all the information on the phone, including its precise location, and to record what was being said in the vicinity of the phone.”
