Israel's General Security Service (Shin Bet) has revealed that it has unmasked a major phishing campaign carried out by Iranian agents against Israeli citizens, including senior members of the security establishment, political figures, academics and journalists.
The objective of this campaign was to access the targets' IT media (emails, computers, smartphones) to obtain personal information such as their addresses, contacts and usual places of attendance. This data was to be used to orchestrate attacks via Israeli teams recruited locally.
Iranian agents operated mainly via WhatsApp, Telegram or email, developing cover scenarios tailored to each victim. Their method consisted of downloading a malicious “app” or redirecting to a fake, legitimate service site to harvest login credentials for private or business accounts.
A Shin Bet source emphasizes: “This is a significant threat in Iran's campaign against Israel, the aim of which is to carry out assassinations. We call for vigilance, as these cyberattacks can be avoided through awareness, caution and preventive behavior online.”
These revelations come as the Shin Bet and Israeli police have already foiled nine attempted attacks involving Israelis recruited by Iran in recent months. Following this discovery, the security services launched a large operation to inform targeted citizens and provide them with advice on personal security and online protection settings.
