A serious information security incident occurred this morning (Wednesday) at the Knesset: hostile actors, apparently from abroad, attempted to hack the mobile phone of Member of Knesset Amit Halevi (Likud).
MK Amit Halevi, a member of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which is exposed to sensitive and classified information, received several WhatsApp messages containing links to join a Zoom call. To make the request appear credible and entice him to click, the attackers used the profile picture of Ayala Ben-Gvir, the wife of the Minister of National Security.
Halevi, who recognized the outreach as unusual and suspicious, did not open the links, thereby preventing the possible installation of spyware or the extraction of data from his device. He then contacted the Knesset’s cyber unit, which opened an investigation into the source of the messages.
MK Amit Halevi said, “Even if they had succeeded in breaking in, they would have been disappointed. What they wanted to discover, they will discover in the coming days, but firsthand. The only security-related material they would have found is my messages of support for IDF soldiers, so that they succeed in the historic mission of destroying this evil regime from the face of the earth."