SCOOP: We went undercover & discovered a secret disinformation-for-hire group called Team Jorge selling election interference, hack-and-leak & influence as a service. They claim to have meddled in 33 elections THREAD #TeamJorge@FredMetzo@GurMegiddohaaretz.com/israel-news/se…
tldr; Team Jorge are a 1-stop-shop of influence & psyops
Their business model: disinformation-as-a-service, or DaaS.
Their software: AIMS, an advanced system for creating and deploying fake accounts without detection
The long story: @FbdnStories follows up on the work of journalists that are threatened or killed. They decided to bring together reporters from across the world to investigate the shady disinformation-for-hire industry forbiddenstories.org/story-killers/…
After meeting in Paris, @GurMegiddo had an idea: We should pose as potential clients & try to get a meeting w these firms. Get them to pitch themselves @FredMetzo#teamjorge
Sources linked us to middlemen, mediators put us in touch with door openers. None seem bothered by the fact we wanted to have a democratic election called of for no reason #TeamJorge@FredMetzo@GurMegiddo
.@FredMetzo played a mild-mannered French consultant
Jorge and his team - aka #TeamJorge - we would soon learn have a lot of experience in election interference - and no lack of ideas @FredMetzo@GurMegiddo
Over the course of Zoom meetings, Team Jorge pitched their bundle of services. First, you collect “active intelligence on your targets” - this includes hacking into email and messaging accounts. These can later be leaked. #TeamJorge@FredMetzo@GurMegiddo
Some were playing out in front of our very eyes. We were shown the live Telegram account of a senior Kenyan official, now a serving minister. Jorge showed us how he could send messages from his target’s phone.
Today we're revealing how the pro-Qatar campaign pitched by Perception, a firm run by 2 of Netanyhau's spin doctors, in 2021/22, actually played out online.
Documents obtained by @bar_peleg led us to a network of 20+ avatars (on X...) and 2 mysterious websites linked. We linked them to a firm called Koios which sources confirmed did the campaign that Perception pitched and planned
The avatars and websites, actually a faux news site and a blog,pushed out pro-Qatar content in line with the campaign outlined in documents written by Netanyahu's aides
They praised Doha, hyped #FIBA27, and even promised kosher food at the World Cup...
🚨SCOOP: My new @Haaretzcom investigation reveals new Israeli cyber companies developed technology that exploits the heart of the online economy - ads - not just for mass surveillance, but also to hack phones 👇
🚨This is surveillance capitalism at its finest! The world of "digital arms" has evolved, moving into the realm of ad-based intelligence (AdInt). This is how this next-gen digital weapon leaked into the private cyber arms sector >>
Pieces of QuaDream’s code, which was leaked by an employee, likely by mistake, revealed Reign, but also Blue Spear – a previously unknown program that seems to serve as the web interface through which the targeted devices are likley infected / @DrWhax
At the center of their service is AIMS. A never-before-seen software for creating not bots - but avatars. Complex digital personas that seem real and operate across platforms. AIMS has almost 40k haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
The fake accounts are grouped and AIMS' avatar management dashboard boasts: “African, Arabian, Armenian, Brazilian, Canada, European (mix), Philippines, Russia, Senegal, South America, Ukraine, USA and Zimbabwe.” #TeamJorge@FredMetzo@GurMegiddo
AIMS also allows the creation of new accounts - they automatic creation of new avatars, with unique names, pics (stolen from real people), an email and even a phone number
SCOOP Meet Toka, an Israeli camera hacking firm set up by former PM Ehud Barak and the IDF’s ex-cyber chief. It sells only to intel bodies and law enforcement and allows them to “access” and “alter” camera feeds haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
Toka is under Israeli ministry of defense oversight - its clients are mostly US and it’s allies in the west, but also includes Israel and likely Singapore Revealed: The Israeli Firm Selling ‘Dystopian’ Hacking Capabilities - National Security & Cyber haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
According to a company pitch deck obtained by @Haaretz@haaretzcom, Toka offers “previously out-of-reach capabilities” that “transform untapped IoT sensors into intelligence sources,” and can be used “for intelligence and operational needs.”
Together w Lighthouse Reports & Inside Story we analysed/cross-referenced hundreds of flight records, linking the plane to key locations, and combed dozens of passenger lists, corporate filings, employment records & secret/open data sources haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
We tracked the plane to Dubai, Abu Dhabi & Riyadh. Confidential docs show the company was pushing hard for deals in Africa, and had engaged a network of known arms dealers to pitch its products to Sudan, Mozambique, Angola, Kenya Equatorial Guinea. haaretz.com/israel-news/se…