Two senior Shin Bet officials approached Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz five weeks ago and informed him that his cell phone had been hacked by an Iranian cyber network, Channel 12 TV reported Thursday night. They explained that his private data, including his personal details and correspondence, were now in the most hostile hands imaginable, and said he should act according to his understanding.
The meeting between Shin Bet officials and Gantz took place during the turbulent days in the beginning of his political career, and Gantz was warned that he had to assume that any sensitive item on his phone might be used against him in the future, should he be elected and serve as a senior state official.
They also instructed him on the best way to respond to these threats. Apparently, it took the former IDF chief only a few days to forget those instructions and to become exposed to an enemy cyber attack.
One of his responses was to cancel a Thursday night tour of Tel Aviv’s downtown bars he had planned as part of his campaign.
Good idea.
The Iranian Cyber Army is a computer hacker group believed to be connected to the Iranian government, and to have pledged its loyalty to Supreme Leader of Iran. The group was founded in 2005 and was under the command of Mohammad Hussein Tajik until his assassination. The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks conducted over the Internet since 2009.
Thank God, Gantz did not own a smartphone when he attended Ha’Kfar Ha’Yarok school in his youth.