Israeli soldiers tricked into installing malware by Hamas

Dozens of Israeli soldiers have fallen victim to a hacking scheme orchestrated by the Hamas militant group which infected their smartphones with malware.

A spokesperson for Israel's military revealed that the soldiers were sent fake photos of young women in an effort to lure them to download an app that could access their devices without their knowledge. 

Thankfully though, there was no “significant breach of information” before the scam was discovered.

• Banks being targeted with major malware campaign
• Coronavirus malware scams return with a vengeance
• Also check out the best malware removal software

According to Israel's Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, this was the third attempt in recent years by Hamas to infiltrate the smartphones of Israeli soldiers and it was also the most sophisticated yet.

Honey trap

Hamas' latest scheme began with hackers pretending to be young women with imperfect Hebrew online. To appear convincing though, the hackers claimed to be immigrants or to have visual or hearing impairments.

Once they became friendly with the soldiers, the 'women' would then send them links which they said would allow them to exchange photos. However, clicking on the links actually downloaded malware on to their smartphones.

The malware then gave the hackers access to all of the data on the soldiers' smartphones including their location, pictures and contacts. It even allowed the smartphones to be remotely manipulated which let the attackers take photos and video recordings without the soldiers' knowledge.

The Israel Defense Forces uncovered Hamas' plot several months ago but according to Conricus, they let it continue under surveillance until the operation was eventually shut down.

• We've also highlighted the best antivirus software

Via BBC