IDF seeks to raise awareness about the false applications of Hamas

The IDF on Wednesday launched a campaign to educate soldiers on security rules to avoid cybersecurity threats posed by the Hamas terrorist organization and other hostile organizations a day after announcing it discovered a plot hatched by the group using fake dating apps to spy on them.

The Army in the open
Tuesday, the plot to spy on soldiers by socializing with them on social media, then prompting them to download fake dating apps that allowed Hamas to access their smartphones.

., chief of the intelligence section of the Department of Army Information Security, praised the conduct of the soldiers who reported unusual messages that they had received from girls that they had received. they did not know.

Hamas tried to deceive the soldiers by using fake messages sent by fake female profiles. The "girls" then tried to convince the troops to download malicious apps.

"We discovered the plot thanks to the soldiers, if you remember, we identified a similar method in January 2017 when the IDF discovered
That a terrorist group in Gaza is attracting soldiers using fake women profiles before infecting their phones with spyware, "said the lieutenant-colonel.

"It was the same system, but this time we received dozens of reports of soldiers receiving unusual messages," she added.

Lt. Colonel Y. refused to say whether the demand had been developed in Gaza. However, she noted that, "We know that the (malicious) application has been developed by Hamas, I can not go further."

"We are talking about a young population that is starting to develop relationships at precisely these ages," said Lieutenant-Colonel Y. about the scale of the vulnerability of soldiers 18-21 years to attempts of seduction

"Nevertheless, we understood (Hamas attempts to attract soldiers by downloading malicious applications-ed) a year and a half ago and we are working hard to awaken a new consciousness (on the subject), "Lt Col Y explained.

"We have seen their (Hamas) attempts to reach all IDF soldiers and not just to fight the soldiers, its purpose is to make soldiers engage in conversation and convince them to download an app. who seizes smartphones, "said the officer questioned on the purpose of the terrorist group.

"Whatever is photographed, played, and the conversations held next to the phones, all this information is something that they want to collect," added the intelligence chief. "I must say that they are not doing very well this time, we see a change in the conduct of the soldiers."

Several other actions can be taken, said Lt. Col. Y. when asked the question of what a soldier can do to combat the new threat.

"First, when a woman reaches out to a soldier that he does not know, he must report it If the woman continues to send messages in Hebrew inaccurate and that the soldier does not get to make an appointment with her, should be suspicious, "Y said.

"If the conversation revolves around military issues, or if the woman asks the soldiers to download applications -applications from some legitimate servers or applications, the soldier should become very suspicious and report it immediately", was -she adds.

The vice president of Check Point Software Technologies, Nitzan Ziv, explained the dangers of downloading pernicious spyware applications.

"As soon as the spyware is installed on a smartphone, attackers can hear everything that is happening in the room, have access to every file downloaded to the phone, activate the phone's camera and get the Location the phone, "explained Ziv.

"It is also possible to blindly listen to a clbadified conversation and access clbadified data (by this method)," he added.

"We are seeing similar phenomena in the business world where one can get information about competitors simply by using applications," continued Check Point's vice president.

Ziv noted that the Glancelove and Winkchat applications developed by Hamas to spy on IDF soldiers were of high quality and reliable. "Their activity was fluid and almost undetectable, the application seemed good, professional, it had real content and was relevant to the World Cup games that were taking place in Russia," he said, adding : "The Luck of a Soldier"

When asked how soldiers could detect problematic applications, Mr. Ziv replied, "Beyond awareness, automated tools are also required because these elements (malicious applications) are difficult to detect.

"We are talking about a sophisticated fifth generation cellular offensive in which the starting point is not the one where you end up," explained the vice president.

"The user can not really detect applications himself, do not install applications with only 500 downloads, they should also raise suspicions," he said.