Top Israeli cyber official warns of possible extortion after Iranian fake calls

Ohad Meshulam, head of Israel’s National Cyber Directorate’s defense center, on Monday warned that the current wave of Iranian fake phone calls could soon be replaced with extortion and other more sophisticated cyber-related attacks. 

“What matters here is the adversary’s capability. With just two simple breaches, they reached tens of thousands of Israelis,” Meshulam said in an interview with the news outlet Ynet News. He was referring to hostile Iranian-linked cyber actors who succeeded in targeting thousands of Israelis with messages in broken Hebrew by hacking into two private Israeli phone exchanges. 

Meshulam believes the Iranian cyber-attack was “just the beta version” and a test for a future far more dangerous attack. He warned that the rapid development of artificial intelligence is making these attacks increasingly more sophisticated and the message will sound realistic. 

“It will sound completely natural, like a real person speaking to you,” he warned.

Meshulam urged the Israeli public to remain vigilant and not sharing any sensitive personal data. 

“Don’t click on links, don’t give out codes if someone asks,” he said. “I want to say this very clearly – if a sophisticated enough actor is behind it, one click on a link can turn your phone into a full-fledged spying device, even when it’s turned off."

Looking ahead, the top cyber official assessed that Iran and its allies are likely to use extortion as a mean to recruit Israeli citizens for various missions. 

“The most significant danger we face in the near future is recruitment attempts through extortion,” Meshulam explained. “If someone finds very embarrassing material on your phone, it could become fertile ground for blackmail – and that can definitely cause damage."

While Israel has an advanced cyber defense, Meshulam warned that no system is 100% secure. 

“There’s no such thing as airtight protection, especially when we’re talking about small, widely dispersed exchanges,” he assessed. “We don’t even know where they all are. As we’ve seen, one small company, one small exchange, is enough to reach tens of thousands."

He concluded by stressing that the country’s cyber defense depends on the vigilance of all its citizens. 

“We’ll be left exposed if the average citizen isn’t vigilant.”

During the war between Israel and Iran in June, many Israelis received fake terror alerts that likely emanated from Iranian-linked hackers. 

“Officials believe these threats are part of a psychological warfare campaign orchestrated by Iranian or pro-Iranian groups aiming to sow widespread panic during the ongoing military campaign against Iran, known as Operation Rising Lion,” the Jerusalem Post reported at the time. 

While Israel has been a main cyber target for Iran and its allies, Tehran has become a prominent actor in the global cyber war. 

In June 2024, the director of the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) Gaby Portnoy warned that Iranian cyber attacks had become a threat to global security. 

“That makes Iranian cyber aggression an international problem, not only an Israeli one, and therefore the solution needs to be international,” Portnoy warned.