back to article Cyber boffins drill into World Cup cyber honeypot used to cyber lure Israeli soldiers

Security researchers have unpicked mobile apps and spyware that infected the mobile devices of Israeli military personnel in a targeted campaign which the state has claimed Hamas was behind. Earlier this week, Israeli military security officials revealed that hackers whom they claim were Hamas-affiliated* had installed spyware …

  1. Hans 1
    Holmes

    What, really ?

    images and videos stored on the mobile device alongside information on where they were taken.

    #ClueLessAboutExif

    1. AndyS

      Re: What, really ?

      Not only the images, but also the pixels they are made of!

  2. Blockchain commentard
    Holmes

    You'd think that Israel would have anti-virus software on their soldiers smart phones/tablets considering the current climate in that part of the world.

    1. AndyS

      It's a conscript army, made of young kids. Even if they had army-issued mobiles, it would be nigh on impossible to stop people using their personal devices.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        But the kid-ladies are cool in photo-ops sessions.

        I mean look at that: It's practically Japanese levels of Cute with Guns.

        'Heart Breaker' op revealed Hamas spying on IDF soldiers' phones via dating apps - report

  3. wolfetone Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    A tree is felled in the woods, Israel blames Hamas.

    The Queen passes wind, Israel blames Hamas.

    The weather's too hot, Israel blames Hamas.

    1. Guus Leeuw

      Dear Sir,

      At the same, in other news: those Israeli soldiers attack and try to relocate Palestinian citizens, because Israel wants to build houses on Palestine grounds for Israelis.

      The deal from 1947 or thereabouts is still a mess. If Israel was that important to the US, they should have given, say, Texas or Nevada to the Israelis and should have said: "We welcome you here"...

      One cannot enforce a correction of history onto other people. Ever! The US should really learn that, and stop forgetting where the people that inhabit the US these days actually came from.

      Regards,

      Guus

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        The deal from 1947 or thereabouts is still a mess. If Israel was that important to the US, they should have given, say, Texas or Nevada to the Israelis and should have said: "We welcome you here"...

        Israel was only "important to the US" (i.e. important to the electoral prospects of US politicians) after Nixon or thereabouts. One might point to the moment where a solid attempt at a total kill of the USS Liberty was decently covered up by a veil of mumbling US silence.

        Nowadays, Israel is a mind-controlling remora on the shuffling zombie corpse of the US.

        Such is life. The two deserve each other.

        1. jake Silver badge

          "Such is life. The two deserve each other."

          Nice of England to walk away from it's creation.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        This Jews have a strong claim to the land they are on just as the Palestinians do, to claim that they should live in Texas is moronic and anti-semitic especially as Israel was created by the UN not the USA you dotard.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Are you sure !!!

          Have a slight problem with the 'Anti-semitic' line !!!

          I have noted that *any* comment that does not agree & support a Jewish or 'pro-Israeli' line is automatically 'Anti-semitic'.

          If I say to someone who is Jewish that I disagree with their view that 'red' is 'blue' I am automatically cast as 'Anti-semitic' !!!

          Please advise how it is possible to disagree with someone who is Jewish without being 'Anti-semitic' ?

          P.S. To avoid any attacks I am not pro-Palestine or Israel, just someone watching the chaos from the sidelines and wondering when/if it will ever end.

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: Are you sure !!!

            I suggest you hang out with better educated people. The Jews I know are fully aware of my opinion of the terrorist state of Israel occupying Palestine. Most of them actually agree with my view on the subject. None of them consider me anti-semitic, for the simple reason that I'm not hostile towards, do not discriminate against, nor hold any prejudice toward Jewish people.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Are you sure !!!

              Jake,

              Lucky you, you obviously know what 'Anti-Semitic' means !!!

              So many do not, somewhat conveniently, and can be assured of rabid support rather than reasoned arguement.

              It is a well known tactic that has been used by other 'Oppressed groups' because it is impossible to fight against once you have been publically labeled 'Anti-??????'.

              Emotive 'group-think' trumps reasoned debate ....... always !!!

              Speaking of Trump :) ...... he does not make things easier with his almost 'knee-jerk' support of anything Israel does, even when the rest of the world at least questions the justification or sanity of the actions taken.

              No side is 100% right.

              More and more Israel is becoming the 'Monster' they experienced and consequently are constantly protecting themselves from ever meeting again.

              They are at once defined and limited by the greatest genocidal act and cannot see they are in some sense emulating the very same actions in their efforts to protect themselves.

              It is down to "If you shoot me ... it is a crime, while If I shoot you .... it is defending my home !!!" BUT it only seems to apply to one side & the US of A seems to support this .... so must be right.:)

          2. James12345

            It becomes anti-semitic when

            It becomes anti-semitic when:

            1) You treat Jews differently than you treat anybody else.

            2) You deny Jews the right of self-determination.

            3) You deny there is any Jewish connection to Israel\Palestine\Judea & Semaria\Trans-Jordan\The Holy Land\Insert here any relevant name given of the land at any time in history.

            It looks like year dot is 1967 to Jake - this is when the Arabs started to refer to themselves as Palestinian, rather than calling themselves Syrians, Egyptians or Saudis. Up to this point, calling someone a Palestinian was either a badge of honour for the Jews or a derogatory term when used by the Arabs. Jake also seems to have conveniently forgotten the Mizrahi Jews who were the Middle East's unwanted, homeless Jews.

            So, Jake, you have successfully passed Test 1, 2 and 3. Where shall I post the "Jake is a dick and proud of it" t-shirt that you have won in this quiz?

        2. jake Silver badge

          "This Jews have a strong claim to the land they are on just as the Palestinians do"

          No. The Jews moved out over 2,500 years ago. The Palestinians have been there since the year dot.

          "to claim that they should live in Texas is moronic"

          Absolutely!

          "and anti-semitic"

          Wrong. It's not anti-Jewish to suggest that the terrorist state of Israel has no legal claim to the land they are squatting on. Don't confuse the religion with the political entity.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            No, the Jews did not move out of Palestine. They were expelled from Jerusalem in AD 70, but not from the rest of the place. What happened was that these families converted to Christianity in the fourth century, along with most of the empire. After the Muslim conquest, part of the population converted to Islam. These are the Palestinians.

      3. jake Silver badge

        @Guus

        I think you'll find that England gave that portion of Palestine to Europe's unwanted, homeless Jews. But I totally agree with your premise ... England should have welcomed them, and given them Northumberland, Durham, Tyne and Wear and Cleveland if it were all that important to house them.

        One cannot enforce a correction of history onto other people. Ever! The UK should really learn that, and stop forgetting where the people that are squatting on Palestine these days actually came from.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I know right, those Hamas guys are just minding their own business, not digging tunnels, not firing rockets, not having an explicitly genocidal founding charter. I don't understand why the Israelis have a problem with them.

      1. jake Silver badge

        "Those Hamas guys" are trying to kick the homeless European squatters off the land that has been Palestinian for over 2,000 years. There is a reason it has been called "Palestine" since Roman times, you know. What astonishes me is that not only are people like you amazed that the Palestinians should be upset about this, but think they should just roll over & take it.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Israel didn't even get the world cup and highly doubt they were following Iran. I'm sure they'll retaliate with an air strike though.

    1. jake Silver badge

      Nah. They save air strikes for serious threats. Like teenagers throwing stones.

  5. Mike 16

    Personal devices

    Sure some conscript Israeli soldiers might be careless about using personal devices for government business, but surely no high-level U.S.govt personnel would be that careless. :-)

  6. JassMan
    Trollface

    Sounds like any "normal" app on playstore

    Once the apps were installed onto the victims’ phones, the spyware was then able to carry out a number of malicious activities including, but far from limited to, recording a user’s phone calls. The software nasty was also capable of stealing a user’s contacts, SMS messages, images and videos stored on the mobile device alongside information on where they were taken.

    Facebook does this and Zuck apologizes for accidentally breaking GDPR. An unknown entity does it and Israel automatically blames an unfriendly government.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon