Israel's internal security service Shin Bet assesses that Iran is behind more than 200 phishing attempts against senior Israeli officials, according to a report in the Times of Israel.

The scope of the targets was not limited to political figures, the newspaper reported citing officials from the agency, it allegedly also included Israeli media personalities, journalists and academics.

Shin Bet said the hackers approached their targets on WhatsApp, Telegram and email by trying to get them to download an app that would reportedly give Iran access to their devices.

Once the devices were hacked, the personal information that would have been obtained could have been used to carry out attacks against individuals inside Israel through local agents Iran allegedly recruited, the Shin Bet officials said.

In one case a hacker posed as Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, allegedly telling targets he was coordinating a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last month Israeli police said they arrested seven Israeli citizens accused of being part of a spy network gathering information on Israel's military bases and energy infrastructure for Iranian intelligence.

In September, an Israeli citizen was arrested on suspicion of being involved in an Iranian plot to assassinate Netanyahu and other top officials.

Shin Bet said the individuals reportedly targeted have all been briefed.