Over the past few months, a series of cyber attacks in the Middle East have been directed at targets related to Palestinian Authority officials, with the aim of spying on their mobile phones, opening cameras without the knowledge of the device owner, to listen to the environment and to steal files and information.
The attacks were detected by the Nocturnus research group of Israeli cybersecurity company Cybereason, which monitored a series of attacks. The data analysis shows parallels to attacks previously made by hackers using the nicknames "MoleRATs" and "The Gaza Cybergang," which in the past also attacked Israeli strategic targets. It's an Arabic-speaking attack group, which is largely against political motives and acts against various targets in the Middle East since 2012. In deciphering the case, Cybereason uncovered the attackers' actions, which included disseminating geopolitical content to cause attackers to click malicious links, thus infecting them with damage.