Hackers use UK airwoman’s dating profile to steal F-35 secrets
The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) says hackers have been able to steal sensitive information about its fleet of stealthy F-35 fighter jets after successfully infiltrating an airwoman's dating account.
“Within the last week a serving member of the RAF had their online dating profile hacked. It subsequently transpired that the perpetrator then attempted to befriend another serving member of the RAF to apparently elicit comment and detail on F-35,” according to an internal RAF memo viewed by the UK’s Daily Mail.
When asked for comment, RAF officials confirmed to the outlet that the perpetrators used the Tinder account to befriend another member of the air force and obtain “some information” about the fifth-generation warplane.
The Daily Mail said the so-called "honeytrap" attack had raised the alarms among RAF commanders, prompting them to warn the personnel about similar attacks in future.
“This incident serves to highlight the risk of social engineering (SE) and online reconnaissance against social media profiles that disclose links to HM Forces,” said the memo.
The attack came weeks after the RAF received its first four F-35s from American weapons maker Lockheed Martin.
The documents appeared to imply that foreign powers were behind the attack although the origin remained unknown.
“It should be noted that UK military posture, policy and capabilities continue to be significant targets of interest for hostile state and non-state actors,” it read.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project is the world’s most expensive weapon at over $1.3 trillion. The UK has agreed to manufacture 15 percent of every one of over 3,000 jets ordered.
London has earmarked £9.1 billion to buy 48 of the jets by 2025 and a total of 138 in the long run.
The fighter jet has been dogged by software bugs and design flaws that have led to delivery delays and budget problems.
Critics, including none other than US President Donald Trump, have balked at the aircraft’s hefty price for what it offers in exchange. Trump has even threatened to replace the jet with decades-old F-18s if Lockheed fails to slash the costs and speed up production.
UK suspends legal assessments of Israeli violations in Gaza
70,000 pro-Palestine people in UK urge London to end arms exports to Israel
Former minister says UK should consider sending troops to Ukraine
VIDEO | Yemenis rally in Sana'a in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza
VIDEO | Jordanians march after Friday prayers in support of Palestinians
Far-right Israeli minister Ben-Gvir injured
Germany clears pro-Gaza camp as US-style demos spread across Europe
Iran: US lacks competence to comment on human rights, freedom of expression
It could take 14 years to remove debris left by Israel war on Gaza: UN
Iran, China discuss military cooperation
Sanders to Netanyahu: 'Don’t insult American people’s intelligence'
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
