EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

A hacker attempted to steal secrets about Britain’s F-35 stealth fighter jet by hacking into the Tinder profile of a Royal Air Force (RAF) airwoman, The Telegraph reports. Operating through her account, the cyber intruder then tried to lure classified information out of a RAF serviceman who was also on the dating app.

Not just a popular trope in spy films, the espionage technique is known as “honey trapping.”  In a statement, the RAF referred to the technique as a kind of social engineering, which they defined as “psychological manipulation to elicit confidential or sensitive information.”

The RAF spokesperson stressed that the hacking was unsuccessful. No secrets were disclosed. The servicewoman, whose account was hacked, reported the issue promptly. And, it turns out that the RAF serviceman who was contacted is not even associated with the F-35 program.

The source of the hack is unknown – but immense secrecy around the highly sophisticated fighter jets makes their information desirable to foreign actors.

The Tinder hack is a good example of some of the indirect ways cyberattackers are seeking to infiltrate organizations to access intellectual property and other sensitive details.

Get the full story at The Telegraph.