<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="http://www.newsweek.com/hamas-using-dating-apps-hack-israeli-soldiers-1007828">http://www.newsweek.com/hamas-using-dating-apps-hack-israeli-soldiers-1007828</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Hamas Is Using Dating Apps to Hack
Israeli Soldiers</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By David Brenna - July
4,2018<br>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="content">
<div class="moz-reader-content line-height4" style="display:
block;">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<p>Palestinian militant group Hamas is using fake dating
and World Cup update apps to hack into the smartphones
of Israeli soldiers and turn them into spying devices,
the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.</p>
<p>If soldiers downloaded the fake apps, it would give
Hamas operatives the ability to see a user’s location
and contact list. It would also allow the app’s creator
to use the phone as a listening device and video camera,
<a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-warns-soldiers-hamas-trying-to-spy-on-them-with-fake-dating-world-cup-apps/"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>The Times of Israel</em></a>
reported.</p>
<p>The IDF said hundreds of its soldiers were contacted by
imitation Facebook accounts, usually using stolen
pictures to pose as young women, asking to talk on <a
href="http://newsweek.com/topic/whatsapp">WhatsApp</a>.
They were then asked to download one of two fake dating
apps named WinkChat and GlanceLove. Intelligence
officers said those running the fake accounts were not
necessarily based in Gaza, the coastal enclave
controlled by Hamas.</p>
<p><span> <span itemscope=""
itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"
itemprop="image"> <source media="(min-width:
1200px)"><source media="(min-width: 992px)"><source
media="(min-width: 768px)"><source
media="(min-width: 481px)"><source
media="(min-width: 0px)"><span><span
itemprop="copyrightHolder"></span> </span> </span></span></p>
<p>“Whatever you can do with your phone, the malicious
content can do,” an official in the IDF intelligence
directorate told reporters at a <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/03/israel-hamas-created-fake-dating-apps-to-hack-soldiers-phones"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank">briefing</a> Tuesday.
He also said a third app—Golden Cup—was found posing as
a World Cup live scores and fixtures resource.</p>
<p>Advertised on <a
href="http://www.newsweek.com/topic/facebook">Facebook</a>
in Hebrew, the program could stream matches and
highlights from past fixtures and included details about
competing teams. One intelligence official said the app
was “actually a very good one.”</p>
<p>All three apps targeted Android devices and were listed
on the Google Play store, although have now been
removed. Officials said they were reported by soldiers
and did not cause any “security damage at all.” Fewer
than 100 troops fell for the ruse, installing at least
one of the apps on their phones. Both men and women were
targeted. “What <a
href="http://www.newsweek.com/topic/hamas">Hamas</a>
is bringing to the table is a very good knowledge of our
young people and their state of mind,” one officer told
reporters.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/topic/idf">IDF</a>
had been investigating the hack for several months,
calling its operation “Broken Heart” as it claimed the
fake romances failed to achieve Hamas’ goal.</p>
<p>This is not the first time Hamas has tried to exploit
lax cyber security among individual Israeli soldiers. In
<a
href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-cyber/hamas-sets-honey-traps-to-hack-israeli-soldiers-phones-army-idUSKBN14V1ZG"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank">2017</a>, the group
spread fake chatting apps to gain control of troops’
phone cameras and microphones. Using pictures of young
women and Hebrew slang, fraudsters convinced dozens of
soldiers to download the malicious program.</p>
<p>The Israeli military has started testing its own
soldiers to see how cautious they are when dealing with
suspicious online offers. Soldiers will receive fake
messages from the IDF asking them to click on a link. If
they do, a warning message appears warning them to be
more careful. Soldiers who fall foul of the trick then
have to meet with their commanders to go over good
online security practice.</p>
<p>The most notorious catfishing incident of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the <a
href="https://www.wired.com/2001/01/israels-first-internet-murder/"
rel="nofollow" target="_blank">murder</a> of a
16-year-old Israeli boy in 2001. After weeks of chatting
online, Ofir Rahum was lured to a meeting by Mona Jaud
Awana, a 24-year-old Palestinian woman posing as a
tourist. Awana then drove the pair to a prearranged spot
where gunmen shot Rahum dead.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://freedomarchives.org/">https://freedomarchives.org/</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>