Spyware disguised as emergency-alert app sent to Israeli smartphones

Hamas-linked attackers are dropping spyware disguised as an emergency-alert app on Israelis' smartphones via SMS messages, according to security researchers.

Acronis Threat Research Unit (TRU) analysts discovered the malicious app - a trojanized version of the Red Alert rocket app used by millions of Israelis - on March 1, after multiple citizens began reporting the scam on social media.

"At the moment there's no way to know for sure what the scope or size is, or how many infections were successful," TRU senior security researcher Eliad Kimhy told The Register. "The campaign is likely indiscriminate," Kimhy added, noting the Israeli National Cyber Directorate and all major Israeli news sites have since released a warning about the phishing attack. This "further supports the theory that this is broadly indiscriminate."

The threat researchers say the campaign may be linked to a Hamas-aligned cyberespionage group called Arid Viper (aka APT-C-23, Desert Falcons, or Two-tailed ...