The Shin Bet is investigating whether foreign elements hacked into the mobile phones of Yesh Atid MKs, including the party chairman who is also chairman of the opposition, Yair Lapid. According to reports, about 15 Yesh Atid MKs, Lapid included, were dropped from their WhatsApp accounts on Saturday.
Hadash MK Ofer Cassif’s WhatsApp has also been disconnected.
According to fagenwasanni.com, the digital watchdog group Citizen Lab discovered spyware believed to be connected to the Israeli firm NSO which exploits a new vulnerability in Apple devices, infecting them with NSO’s Pegasus spyware. The flaw allowed iPhones running the latest iOS version (16.6) to be infected without any interaction between the attacker and the victim. Citizen Lab revealed that Apple believes its “Lockdown Mode” security feature can prevent these attacks.
Yesh Atid issued a statement on Saturday, saying, “During the day, a malfunction was reported on several Knesset members’ phones. The incident was reported to the Knesset officer and the Shin Bet. The malfunction was handled and is being investigated.”
