Channel 12 News reported Saturday that Russia recently provided Iran with advanced technology that allows for remote hacking of mobile phones without the victim having to take action. Currently, most phone hacking relies on Trojan that “downloads” itself and infects the device after the user is fooled into clicking on a link or opening a file.
The report, citing cybersecurity experts, said so-called zero-click technology allows hackers to access sensitive systems without user interaction.
The report came three days after news broke that the mobile phone of Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz was hacked by Iran.
Yaniv Balmas, head of cyber research at Check Point Software Technologies, told the Globes newspaper on Saturday that it appeared that Gantz's phone had been hacked "with a zero-click attack.".
In such attacks, he said, “it is enough for the attacker to know the target’s phone number. If, for example, the attacker knows that the target uses an iPhone and is aware of a vulnerability in a specific component of the iPhone … they just need to send a text to the phone to gain control.”
Channel 12 news reported on Thursday that Gantz, a former military chief, was approached five weeks ago by officials from the Shin Bet security service, who informed him that his personal phone had been hacked by Iran after he officially entered politics in December.
Shin Bet agents told Gantz that hackers in Tehran had his personal information and messages and that he should assume that any sensitive information on the phone could be used against him in the future. They told him to proceed as he saw fit.
Blue and White, and Gantz himself, stressed that there was no sensitive information on the phone and noted that it was hacked four years after he retired as army chief.
In January, Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman warned that a foreign state “intends to interfere” in Israel’s upcoming elections on April 9.
A few days later, Russia said it had no plans to interfere in the vote, while a Kremlin spokesman said Moscow “has never interfered in elections in any country.”.
