After claims involving Naftali Bennett and Tzachi Braverman, the Iranian hacking group Handala said Saturday it had breached the mobile phone of Ayelet Shaked and released photos of her from her military service, with family, at social events and during work meetings. Some of the videos appeared to belong to Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
Under the headline “The Queen's Secrets: Unveiling the Mysteries Behind Ayelet Shaked,” the hackers said the cyber world had once again seen the scope of their power. They described Shaked as a controversial figure and referred to her as a security champion of what they called the Zionist regime.
Handala also claimed it had hacked Shaked’s iPhone 15, portraying it as a device marketed as cutting-edge and secure but now, according to the group, exposed. The hackers threatened to release additional material and mocked Bennett and Braverman, who had said their phones were not breached, suggesting Israeli officials were trying to mislead the public by downplaying the incident.
About a week ago, the group claimed it had hacked the phone of Braverman, chief of staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a nominee to serve as Israel’s ambassador to Britain. That claim came about a week and a half after hackers breached the Telegram account of former Prime Minister Bennett.
The group published photos, messages and a contact list it said came from Braverman’s phone. The Prime Minister’s Office said the incident was old, even though some of the exposed correspondence dated to the past year. It said there was no phone hack but rather a data leak and that appropriate safeguards had been taken. It was unclear what officials meant by a data leak, as access to such material typically requires access to a device, backup or account credentials.
Bennett initially sought to downplay the incident but later acknowledged that his Telegram account had been compromised. Iranian hackers published thousands of phone numbers, spread across 141 pages. After first saying his phone had not been hacked, Bennett said the matter was being handled by security authorities and accused Israel’s enemies of trying to prevent his return to political leadership.
He later said further checks indicated his phone itself had not been breached, but access had been gained to his Telegram account through various means, including contact lists, and that many real and fake photos and chats were circulated. He said the materials were obtained illegally and that their distribution constituted a criminal offense.