Israel’s National Cyber Command warned of an increase in targeted phishing attempts, which may appear particularly credible, impersonating well-known entities and distributed via messaging apps, including WhatsApp and Telegram.

The attacks are targeted and “tailored” to the interests of senior officials and key figures in various fields, including academia, government, and the media.

In these cases, the attacker does not distribute a random message, but builds an attack based on information gathering and prior planning.