Iranian hackers break into emails of Israeli VIPs

A group of Iranian hackers broke into the emails of several prominent Israeli political and security figures and tried to extract information from them using social engineering techniques.

According to Newsru.co.il, Tzipi Livni, Israel’s former Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister, was one of the targets of the operation, which also included a former US Ambassador to Israel, high-ranking military personnel in the reserve who hold positions in the defence industry and in think tanks.

Using information from the hacked emails, the hackers began contacting other recipients posing as the owners of the hacked emails, Check Point reported.

The operation lasted about six months, according to the company. All owners of hacked mail addresses were informed of the incident.