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Israel's military will prohibit senior officers from using Android smartphones for official communications, permitting only iPhones for commanders ranked lieutenant colonel and above, according to a report by Army Radio on Wednesday.
The directive aims to reduce intrusion risks on senior officers' devices by standardizing operating systems at senior echelons, making security controls and updates easier to manage. The Israel Defense Forces has not publicly detailed timelines or exceptions for the policy, and officials did not immediately comment on whether the ban extends to personal devices used for work purposes.
The move comes amid longstanding concerns about hostile actors using social platforms and messaging applications to target soldiers' phones and track troop movements. Israeli security officials have documented repeated attempts by adversaries to compromise military personnel's devices through sophisticated social engineering tactics.
The IDF has faced persistent cyber threats targeting soldiers' mobile devices, particularly through so-called "honeypot" schemes where operatives pose as women online to lure personnel into installing malware. One notable campaign, Operation HeartBreaker, sought access to contacts, photos, and real-time location data on soldiers' devices, according to military intelligence assessments.
In 2019, the IDF warned troops that Hamas was using WhatsApp to gather data on military movement near Gaza and instructed soldiers to flag suspicious contacts to their chains of command. The military has since conducted training and internal drills designed to raise officers' awareness of social engineering tactics, including staging scenarios that mimic Hezbollah-linked honeypot operations to test units' digital discipline.
The reported directive follows fresh warnings from Israel's National Digital Agency about a new Iranian cyber espionage campaign targeting senior defense and government figures. The agency exposed "SpearSpecter," a campaign linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that uses WhatsApp lures, impersonation tactics, and a PowerShell backdoor to compromise targets.
Security analysts noted that hostile groups have shifted from broad, indiscriminate cyberattacks to highly targeted espionage operations based on advanced social engineering methods.
The decision comes weeks after Google promoted its Pixel smartphones as mission-ready devices approved for use on the U.S. Department of Defense Information Network. Google described the certification as a "significant milestone" demonstrating Pixel phones as "the highest rated for security features empowering government employees to securely connect and collaborate from virtually anywhere."
The company has significantly enhanced Android's security architecture over the past two years, including the introduction of Advanced Protection Mode and planned restrictions on sideloading applications. However, the IDF's choice suggests that iPhone's more tightly controlled ecosystem still provides advantages for high-security environments where standardization and centralized management are priorities.
Army Radio indicated the directive would be issued in coming days, with implementation applying to officers from lieutenant colonel through the general staff. The move aligns with broader efforts to limit inadvertent exposure from social media and messaging applications that can reveal patterns of military activity.
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