Honey Trap Exposes Israeli Army's Vulnerability to Social Media
- Israeli troops’ phones breached by militants posing as women
- Cadets develop technology to flag bogus Facebook profiles
It was a 21st-century twist on an age-old espionage trick: An attractive woman strikes up a relationship on social media with an Israeli soldier, who doesn’t realize his new sweetheart is a Palestinian militant tapping into his phone.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers were stung in an operation carried out mostly on Facebook Inc’s Messenger, designed to gather information on military plans and deployments, a senior Israeli intelligence officer told Bloomberg, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Israel says the deception was masterminded by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. Computer security company Kaspersky Lab said the cyberattacks were first detected in July, and as recently as February.