Israeli diplomats added to Iran-run WhatsApp groups - Israeli media

Israeli diplomats have been added to WhatsApp groups allegedly operated from Iran as the cyber war between the two countries continues, Israeli media reported on Monday.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has warned staff about the incident, urging increased caution.

“Recently, there have been reports of [diplomats] being added to WhatsApp groups, not through their contacts. These are groups that are opened and run by our adversaries from phone numbers from Iran, Pakistan, and more,” the advisory said, according to Times of Israel.

“Therefore, it is necessary to be vigilant about the groups you join and are added to, and even change the settings so that you can only be added to the groups by contacts who are registered with you,” it added.

Iran International sought comment from Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which did not respond.

Israeli intelligence analyst Ronen Solomon told Iran International the reports were plausible, adding that a dedicated Revolutionary Guards unit known as Department 50 is responsible for such cyber operations.

“If I’m Iranian, I can build a group where the name is similar to one that they’re already using, so it could be an easy way to collect information. If you have the number of the target you can put it in your list in the phone, and if their privacy definition is ‘all’ and not ‘only contacts’ you can easily do it, but even if you do it, you don’t control their Whatsapp," he said.

According to Solomon, “The Iranians have shown that they can collect lists of diplomats because sometimes it’s listed online, in the public domain of embassies, and they can put you in a special group that’s opened with a cover story. When they’re sharing a post in their group, you’ll also see it in your WhatsApp so you can click on a link and be targeted in a cyber attack."

After the June war between the two archenemies, Iran International reported the uptick in cyber attacks between the two sides.

”Although the Iran-Israel ceasefire has paused direct military engagement, cyber operations have intensified," Marwan Hachem, co-founder of FearsOff cybersecurity experts, told Iran International.

“Since the truce began, nearly 450 cyberattacks have been recorded against Israeli targets—many attributed to pro-Iran hacker groups,” he said at the start of July.