Authorities foil hundreds of Iranian cyberattacks on senior Israeli figures

The cyberattacks involve “targeted phishing,” in which attackers impersonate familiar figures to lure victims into revealing personal information or downloading malicious files.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israeli security authorities revealed a sharp increase in Iran-linked cyberattack attempts targeting senior officials, academics, journalists, and other public figures on Wednesday.

In the past year, “hundreds of cyberattack attempts were made against Israeli figures, including senior government officials, senior security officials, academics and media figures,” the National Cyber Directorate and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

The surge, authorities noted, is linked in part to Iranian intelligence activity.

“As part of a combined operation by the [Shin Bet] and the National Cyber Directorate, a significant increase in attempts by Iranian intelligence elements to hack into private Google accounts and private phone messaging apps of senior government officials, past and present security officials, security industry officials, journalists, academics and various citizens has been identified in recent months,” particulary since the Iran-Israel war of June, the agencies said.

The cyberattacks involve “targeted phishing,” in which attackers impersonate familiar figures to lure victims into revealing personal information or downloading malicious files.

“The purpose of these attempts is to collect personal and professional information that can be used to promote terrorist, espionage and influence activities,” the agencies explained.

Shin Bet and the National Cyber Directorate said they have successfully thwarted hundreds of these attacks.

Measures taken included sending “targeted alerts about the threat, briefings on checks to detect exceptions, blocking and removing unknown access to accounts, briefings on hardening accounts and personal security,” as well as awareness campaigns providing security tools and guidance.

The agencies urged all users to strengthen their digital defenses. “We recommend strengthening security settings in Google and messaging programs and social networks, through two-step verification, recovery email, and performing checks on linked accounts,” the statement said.

Authorities highlighted recent programs from Google and WhatsApp that offer advanced protection tailored to senior officials and others handling sensitive information.

The agencies also called for public vigilance against suspicious online activities.