US’ F-35 Aircraft Project Details Leaked On Tinder Dating App

A British Royal Air Force (RAF) servicewoman’s dating profile was hacked by an unidentified third party for extracting classified information of the US’ fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II fighter jet, Daily Mail reports.

According to the report, the hacked Tinder profile of an RAF airwoman was used by a spy posing as an air force member to honey trap other crewmembers working on the F-35 fighter jet project, and it has been reported that at least one of the servicemen revealed details about the project.

The Daily Mail said RAF sources confirmed sensitive information had been passed, and that there was suspicion that Chinese and Russian intelligence services might be involved in the operation.

A memo acquired by the Daily Mail and sent from the RAF's head of security to the top brass on July 9 reads: "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”.

“Fortunately, little information was disclosed and the individual whose account had been hacked reported this matter expediently enabling prompt follow-up action and investigation. Nevertheless, this incident serves to highlight the risk of social engineering (SE) and online reconnaissance against social media profiles that disclose links to HM Forces," the memo added.