Shin Bet and National Cyber Directorate Warn of Rising Phishing Attacks Targeting Israeli Journalists

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the National Cyber Directorate announced on Sunday that Iranian intelligence operatives have been attempting to gather sensitive security and political information through targeted phishing attacks against Israeli journalists. These attacks involve impersonating known contacts and sending personalized messages via WhatsApp or Telegram, often proposing collaboration, interviews, or conversations to establish trust. The messages include links to fake login pages requesting Google account credentials or malicious files that can compromise mobile devices.

Sometimes the attackers impersonate other journalists to deceive their targets. The agencies assess that these efforts aim to access journalistic sources, work materials, correspondence, and other information that could be exploited for terrorism, espionage, intelligence gathering, and influence operations. Similar attempts are also directed at individuals involved in political, public, governmental, and security sectors, requiring heightened vigilance.

The National Cyber Directorate recommends verifying the identity of anyone contacting through a secondary communication channel, especially if unexpected links, files, or personal information requests are involved. Users are advised not to enter passwords or verification codes from suspicious links, enable two-factor authentication with code authenticators on key accounts like Google and WhatsApp, set up email recovery options, regularly review account access and remove unknown devices, and immediately report suspicious attempts to their organization's security team and the National Cyber Directorate's 119 hotline.