JERUSALEM (JTA) — The cellphone and personal computer of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak were hacked and the information sold to Iran, an Israeli television news channel reported.
The head of the Israel Security Agency informed Barak of the breach about six months ago, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. The news comes just days after Channel 12 reported that Iran had hacked into the private cellphone of Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz, the former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
In the case of Barak, Iran did not do the hacking but paid afterward for the information found on the device, according to the report citing sources close to the case.
The stolen content reportedly did not contain anything embarrassing or sensitive from a security perspective. The breach was not due to any negligence on Barak’s part, the report said.
Like Gantz, Barak is a former IDF chief of staff and also served as defense minister.
In January, Israel Security Agency head Nadav Argaman said that the meddling in the April 9 vote will come through cyberattacks and hackers. Argaman said he could not name the suspected country and that “I know what I’m talking about, I just don’t know in whose favor.”
