The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Israel’s National Cyber Directorate on Tuesday revealed a sharp rise in Iranian-backed cyberattack attempts targeting prominent Israeli figures over the past year, including senior government officials, current and former defense establishment members, academics and journalists.

Iranian intelligence operatives have significantly increased efforts to breach private Google accounts and popular messaging applications such as Telegram and WhatsApp, according to the joint statement.

The campaign is aimed at collecting sensitive personal and professional information to advance terrorism, espionage and influence operations, primarily through targeted phishing attacks.