The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has been targeted by hackers from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas recently by conning them into downloading World Cup and dating apps containing spyware.
About 100 soldiers were tricked into downloading such apps and are believed to be spied upon by hackers.
As per Israeli authorities, no major damage has been done so far, but this could be the beginning of an even more serious hacking attempt. However, many also question if Hamas has the means to run any sort of a hacking campaign against Israel due to the condition of Palestine.
Which Apps Are Compromised?
An IDF spokesperson spoke to the Times of Israel and said that Hamas is behind the hacks. According to the source, this is done with the help of an app called “Golden Cup”.
The app was downloaded like hot cakes due to the World Cup fever as it streams live matches and also shows match schedules and fixtures. Other than this, some dating apps called Winkchat and Glancelove also appear to have been compromised.
How Were The Soldiers Tricked?
Hamas hackers are using stolen identities of attractive women and using their identities on social media accounts to befriend IDF soldiers by talking to them in Hebrew.
Some believe that hackers had access to files stored on a device, but that is yet to be proven. IDF have not advised on how they determined that the apps came from Hamas who also have yet to take any responsibility of the hack.
The Bottomline
All the apps have been removed from the Playstore already, but this just shows how important it is for us to be careful when downloading any app.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
