Israeli private intelligence companies and spyware have interfered in elections around the world, spied on presidents and kings, interfered in treaty negations and has gotten activists and reporters killed.
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It is a story of decade-long friendships with Israeli businessmen and former security officials, generous contracts with Israeli cyber surveillance firms, and business partnerships which enabled human rights abuses at Zerón’s hands.
1reactionary.international/cases/surveill…
1reactionary.international/cases/surveill…
According to the research group Forensic Architecture, the use of NSO Group’s products has contributed to over 150 physical attacks against journalists, rights advocates, and other civil society actors, including some of their deaths.
2digitalviolence.org/#/platform
2digitalviolence.org/#/platform
Advanced Impact Media Solutions, or Aims, which controls more than 30,000 fake social media profiles, can be used to spread disinformation at scale and at speed. It is sold by “Team Jorge”, a unit of disinformation operatives based in Israel.
3theguardian.com/world/2023/feb…
3theguardian.com/world/2023/feb…
In 2022, Hanan claimed that Team Jorge was responsible for influencing “33 presidential campaigns” across the globe, “27 of which were successful”.
4haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
4haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
A team of Israeli contractors who claim to have manipulated more than 30 elections around the world using hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation on social media has been exposed in a new investigation.
5theguardian.com/world/2023/feb…
5theguardian.com/world/2023/feb…
Israeli security expert and founder of Demomam International Tal Hanan found to head a team working to manipulate global politics. Hanan also told the reporters that his services had been made available to intelligence agencies worldwide.
6m.jpost.com/business-and-i…
6m.jpost.com/business-and-i…
In the midst of the entanglements before the last presidential elections in the USA, pro-Trump avatars joined a Facebook page of supporters of Bernie Sanders and then flooded it with links to fake news sites featuring anti-Hillary Clinton articles.
7elstel.org/TalHanan.html.…
7elstel.org/TalHanan.html.…
How Secret Cyber Mercenaries Disrupt Elections
Their tactics include hacking, forging blackmail material, spreading disinformation, planting false intelligence, physically disrupting elections, and deploying targeted social media campaigns.
8occrp.org/en/storykiller…
Their tactics include hacking, forging blackmail material, spreading disinformation, planting false intelligence, physically disrupting elections, and deploying targeted social media campaigns.
8occrp.org/en/storykiller…
The Israeli contractors behind disinformation and election interference
At least some of the disinformation campaigns appear to have been run via an Israeli company, Demoman International, registered on a website run by the Israeli Defense Ministry.
9peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/17/tea…
At least some of the disinformation campaigns appear to have been run via an Israeli company, Demoman International, registered on a website run by the Israeli Defense Ministry.
9peoplesdispatch.org/2023/02/17/tea…
IN THE HEART OF A GLOBAL DISINFORMATION MACHINE
What the French press didn’t know was that Jorge was simultaneously bragging to undercover journalists at an office in Modiin, Israel, that he could get his stories placed on French television.
10forbiddenstories.org/story-killers/…
What the French press didn’t know was that Jorge was simultaneously bragging to undercover journalists at an office in Modiin, Israel, that he could get his stories placed on French television.
10forbiddenstories.org/story-killers/…
Removing the Mask From Israel’s Famed Mossad Spy Agency
Is it right for an organization like the Mossad to be controlled by one person – a prime minister?
11haaretz.com/israel-news/20…
Is it right for an organization like the Mossad to be controlled by one person – a prime minister?
11haaretz.com/israel-news/20…
Candiru is a secretive Israel-based company that sells spyware exclusively to governments. Reportedly, their spyware can infect and monitor iPhones, Androids, Macs, PCs, and cloud accounts.
12citizenlab.ca/2021/07/hookin…
12citizenlab.ca/2021/07/hookin…
The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which tracks illegal hacking and surveillance, said at least 100 activists, journalists and government dissidents across 10 countries were targeted with spyware produced by an Israeli company called Candiru.
13aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7…
13aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7…
Israeli firm’s spyware linked to attacks on websites in UK and Middle East
Canada-based researchers say new evidence suggests Candiru’s software used to target critics of autocratic regimes
14theguardian.com/technology/202…
Canada-based researchers say new evidence suggests Candiru’s software used to target critics of autocratic regimes
14theguardian.com/technology/202…
Candiru: Israeli spyware, blacklisted by US, ‘suspected’ in attack on Middle East Eye
Software ‘strongly suspected’ to have been used to infiltrate websites across the Middle East
15middleeasteye.net/news/candiru-i…
Software ‘strongly suspected’ to have been used to infiltrate websites across the Middle East
15middleeasteye.net/news/candiru-i…
a researcher is claiming the elite Tel Aviv-based firm sold cyber weapons to the government of Uzbekistan, while industry sources tell Forbes the company is hacking both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macs for various nation states.
16forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…
16forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…
Spyware developed by Israeli company Candiru has been used to spy on more than 100 human rights activists, regime opponents, journalists, and scholars from countries such as Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, UK, Turkey, and even Israel, according to a joint study.
17m.calcalistech.com/Article.aspx?g…
17m.calcalistech.com/Article.aspx?g…
Lawmakers demand info from DEA, FBI on use of Israeli spyware. Paragon and other firms are filling the gap left by the blacklisting of NSO developing software capable of copying the entire contents of an individuals phone and using it to spy on the user
18timesofisrael.com/us-lawmakers-d…
18timesofisrael.com/us-lawmakers-d…
US agencies using Israeli spyware despite ban: Report
The DEA has been using Israeli made spyware to hack suspect's phones despite last year's ban on the controversial NSO Group
19thecradle.co/articles-id/18…
The DEA has been using Israeli made spyware to hack suspect's phones despite last year's ban on the controversial NSO Group
19thecradle.co/articles-id/18…
Israel: A new secretive surveillance company Paragon allegedly ‘Hacks WhatsApp And Signal’; incl. co comment
20business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news…
20business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news…
Meet Paragon: An American-Funded, Super-Secretive Israeli Surveillance Startup That ‘Hacks WhatsApp And Signal’
21forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…
21forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…
Israeli Firm QuaDream's Spyware Used to Hack Journalists, Activists Around the World. Those targeted include victims in North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, per new Citizen Lab and Microsoft report
22haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
22haaretz.com/israel-news/se…
QuaDream is an Israeli company that specialises in the development and sale of advanced digital offensive technology. They are known for spyware marketed under the name “Reign” which reportedly utilises zero-click exploits to hack into target devices.
23citizenlab.ca/2023/04/spywar…
23citizenlab.ca/2023/04/spywar…
Offensive cyber company QuaDream shutting down amidst spyware accusations
It was reported last week that the Israeli firm's hacking tools have been used against journalists, opposition figures and advocacy organizations across at least 10 countries
24calcalistech.com/ctechnews/arti…
It was reported last week that the Israeli firm's hacking tools have been used against journalists, opposition figures and advocacy organizations across at least 10 countries
24calcalistech.com/ctechnews/arti…
Government's use of surveillance firm Cobwebs Technologies embroiled in controversy
25rnz.co.nz/news/national/…
25rnz.co.nz/news/national/…
LAPD Is Using Israeli Surveillance Software That Can Track Your Phone and Social Media
The software, built by Cobwebs Technologies, uses AI to track, surveil, and create profiles of people based on online and phone data
26knock-la.com/lapd-is-using-…
The software, built by Cobwebs Technologies, uses AI to track, surveil, and create profiles of people based on online and phone data
26knock-la.com/lapd-is-using-…
TEXAS STATE POLICE PURCHASED ISRAELI PHONE-TRACKING SOFTWARE FOR “BORDER EMERGENCY”
The software was licensed as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s troubled Operation Lone Star border crackdown.
27theintercept.com/2023/07/26/tex…
The software was licensed as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s troubled Operation Lone Star border crackdown.
27theintercept.com/2023/07/26/tex…
Facebook Warns Users Were Targeted By Spy-For-Hire Companies
targets included everyday people, such as anyone who was party to a lawsuit or family members of human rights activists, and that the companies would supply spy tools for “the highest bidder.”
28forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…
targets included everyday people, such as anyone who was party to a lawsuit or family members of human rights activists, and that the companies would supply spy tools for “the highest bidder.”
28forbes.com/sites/thomasbr…
Facebook Cracks Down on Israeli ‘Surveillance for Hire’ Operations
29rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
29rollingstone.com/politics/polit…
3 Israelis from Black Cube intel firm given suspended sentence in Romania
They were accused of having created an organized crime group that in 2016 targeted Laura Kovesi, a prosecutor who at the time headed Romania’s anti-corruption agency.
30timesofisrael.com/3-israelis-fro…
They were accused of having created an organized crime group that in 2016 targeted Laura Kovesi, a prosecutor who at the time headed Romania’s anti-corruption agency.
30timesofisrael.com/3-israelis-fro…
a private company called Black Cube that claims to use Israeli Mossad procedures hires out its services to the highest bidder and goes after international as well as Israeli activists, business people, and politicians
31therealnews.com/israeli-privat…
31therealnews.com/israeli-privat…
Black Cube: How did an Israeli intelligence agency land contracts worth £1.5 million in Romania?
32medium.com/romania-corrup…
32medium.com/romania-corrup…
Harvey Weinstein hired Black Cube to spy on Ronan Farrow, a reporter who was digging into his sexual assault allegations. Black Cube was tasked with collecting information on victims of Weinstein’s sexual abuse.
33shortform.com/blog/black-cub…
newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
33shortform.com/blog/black-cub…
newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal
34theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/m…
34theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/m…
Internal Black Cube documents obtained by NBC News and interviews of sources with direct knowledge of Black Cube’s operations reveal a business intelligence company with governmental contracts and a special department for politically motivated work.
35nbcnews.com/news/world/bla…
35nbcnews.com/news/world/bla…
The Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube was involved in a campaign to discredit NGOs ahead of Hungary’s April election, according to a former Black Cube employee and a person with knowledge of the company’s inner workings.
36politico.eu/article/viktor…
36politico.eu/article/viktor…
Efraim Halevy, the former head of Israeli spy agency Mossad, has joined the board of Black Cube, the private intelligence company that was hired to find dirt on Harvey Weinstein’s #MeToo accusers and former members of the Obama administration.
37qz.com/1459696/former…
37qz.com/1459696/former…
The intelligence experts Black Cube became important figures in Tchenguiz's inner circle as he pursued international legal claims after the failure of the Icelandic bank Kaupthing in 2008, an event that threatened much of his business empire.
38theguardian.com/business/2013/…
38theguardian.com/business/2013/…
The company’s operatives allegedly use false identities to get close to their targets and create fake companies to provide cover as they seek out evidence of financial or sexual impropriety and other embarrassing information.
39qz.com/1540811/israel…
39qz.com/1540811/israel…
Pegasus Spyware and Citizen Surveillance: Here's What You Should Know
NSO Group's software targeted activists, journalists, politicians and executives. Apple's new Lockdown Mode is designed to thwart it.
40cnet.com/tech/mobile/pe…
NSO Group's software targeted activists, journalists, politicians and executives. Apple's new Lockdown Mode is designed to thwart it.
40cnet.com/tech/mobile/pe…
The devices of six Palestinian human rights defenders were hacked with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The hacking took place prior to the Israeli government’s decision to designate organizations working in the West Bank as terrorist organizations.
41citizenlab.ca/2021/11/palest…
41citizenlab.ca/2021/11/palest…
Pegasus Spyware Used against Thailand’s Pro-Democracy Movement
We have identified at least 30 Pegasus victims among key civil society groups in Thailand, including activists, academics, lawyers, and NGO workers.
42citizenlab.ca/2022/07/geckos…
We have identified at least 30 Pegasus victims among key civil society groups in Thailand, including activists, academics, lawyers, and NGO workers.
42citizenlab.ca/2022/07/geckos…
A whistleblower has alleged that an executive at NSO Group offered a US-based mobile security company “bags of cash” in exchange for access to a global signalling network used to track individuals through their mobile phone.
43theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/…
43theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/…
leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon
Spyware sold to authoritarian regimes used to target activists, politicians and journalists, data suggests
44theguardian.com/world/2021/jul…
Spyware sold to authoritarian regimes used to target activists, politicians and journalists, data suggests
44theguardian.com/world/2021/jul…
Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone “hacked” in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been sent from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have told the Guardian.
45theguardian.com/technology/202…
45theguardian.com/technology/202…
How Democracies Spy on Their Citizens
The inside story of the world’s most notorious commercial spyware and the big tech companies waging war against it.
46newyorker.com/magazine/2022/…
The inside story of the world’s most notorious commercial spyware and the big tech companies waging war against it.
46newyorker.com/magazine/2022/…
New York Times journalist Ben Hubbard was targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware via a June 2018 SMS message promising details about “Ben Hubbard and the story of the Saudi Royal Family.”
47citizenlab.ca/2020/01/stoppi…
47citizenlab.ca/2020/01/stoppi…
Amnesty International has uncovered targeted digital attacks against two prominent Moroccan Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.
48amnesty.org/en/latest/rese…
48amnesty.org/en/latest/rese…
Amnesty International Among Targets of NSO-powered Campaign
Malicious Messages sent to Activists working on Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
49amnesty.org/en/latest/rese…
Malicious Messages sent to Activists working on Human Rights in Saudi Arabia
49amnesty.org/en/latest/rese…
Edward Snowden calls for spyware trade ban amid Pegasus revelations
NSO Group manufactures and sells to governments advanced spyware, branded as Pegasus, that can secretly infect a mobile phone and harvest its information.
50theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/…
NSO Group manufactures and sells to governments advanced spyware, branded as Pegasus, that can secretly infect a mobile phone and harvest its information.
50theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/…
Pegasus reveals all to the NSO customers who control it — text messages, photos, emails, videos, contact lists — and can record phone calls. It can also secretly turn on a phone's microphone and cameras to create new recordings,
51cnet.com/tech/mobile/pe…
51cnet.com/tech/mobile/pe…
Two years after the publication of the Pegasus Project, the Pegasus map aims to gather all the information known to date on the spyware. Victims, client countries, judicial and parliamentary investigations.
52forbiddenstories.org/pegasus-projec…
52forbiddenstories.org/pegasus-projec…
srael's NSO unleashes controversial spyware in Gaza conflict
NSO has come under fire for providing governments with surveillance technology that they have later used to spy on journalists, dissidents and human rights activists.
53axios.com/2023/11/14/peg…
NSO has come under fire for providing governments with surveillance technology that they have later used to spy on journalists, dissidents and human rights activists.
53axios.com/2023/11/14/peg…
Pegasus Spyware Is Detected in a War Zone for the First Time
Researchers say Armenian government workers, journalists, and at least one United Nations official were targeted by the NSO tool.
54wired.com/story/pegasus-…
Researchers say Armenian government workers, journalists, and at least one United Nations official were targeted by the NSO tool.
54wired.com/story/pegasus-…
The Rayzone Group’s secret cyber intelligence activities revealed
Deals with law enforcement agencies across Asia and Central America are just a portion of the activities of the Israeli company.
55m.calcalistech.com/Article.aspx?g…
Deals with law enforcement agencies across Asia and Central America are just a portion of the activities of the Israeli company.
55m.calcalistech.com/Article.aspx?g…
the Rayzone Group of Israel launched a new system called Vegas, unveiled at the recent ISS Conference. The Vegas system was designed to enable security services to intercept wireless communications from any wireless router.
56israeldefense.co.il/en/node/30318#…
56israeldefense.co.il/en/node/30318#…
The Israeli private intelligence company Rayzone Group appears to have had access to the global telecommunications network via a mobile operator in the Channel Islands in the first half of 2018.
57theguardian.com/world/2020/dec…
57theguardian.com/world/2020/dec…
Israeli intelligence company Rayzone part of whose secret activity was uncovered by Calcalist last week provided cyber services to Jewish-British businessmen Moises and Mendi Gertner as part of their dispute with Israeli businessman Dan Gertler.
58m.calcalistech.com/Article.aspx?g…
58m.calcalistech.com/Article.aspx?g…
He said the Cytrox malware appears to pull the same tricks as NSO Group’s Pegasus product — in particular, turning a smartphone into an eavesdropping device and siphoning out its vital data.
59timesofisrael.com/israeli-involv…
59timesofisrael.com/israeli-involv…
We confirmed the hacking of the devices of two individuals with Cytrox’s Predator spyware: Ayman Nour, a member of the Egyptian political opposition living in exile in Turkey, and an Egyptian exiled journalist who hosts a popular news program.
60citizenlab.ca/2021/12/pegasu…
60citizenlab.ca/2021/12/pegasu…
The Lucrative Government Spyware Industry Has a New 'One-Stop-Shop' for Hacking Everything
61gizmodo.com/the-lucrative-…
61gizmodo.com/the-lucrative-…
Meet Blue Wolf, the app Israel uses to spy on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank
An explosive report in the Washington Post reveals extensive Israeli military surveillance project in West Bank
62middleeasteye.net/news/israel-wh…
An explosive report in the Washington Post reveals extensive Israeli military surveillance project in West Bank
62middleeasteye.net/news/israel-wh…
From Pegasus to Blue Wolf: how Israel’s ‘security’ experiment in Palestine went global
the Washington Post revealed an Israeli mass surveillance operation, which uses “Blue Wolf” technology to create a massive database of all Palestinians.
63middleeastmonitor.com/20211116-from-…
the Washington Post revealed an Israeli mass surveillance operation, which uses “Blue Wolf” technology to create a massive database of all Palestinians.
63middleeastmonitor.com/20211116-from-…
the database contains thousands of photos and the Israeli army has installed face-scanning cameras at Israeli military checkpoints as well. Using this system, Israeli soldiers identify Palestinians before they even present their ID cards and.
64palestinechronicle.com/blue-wolf-isra…
64palestinechronicle.com/blue-wolf-isra…
“Iron Truth,” claims its tech industry back channels have led to the removal of roughly 1,000 posts tagged by its members as false, antisemitic, or “pro-terrorist” across platforms such as X, YouTube, and TikTok.
65theintercept.com/2024/01/10/isr…
65theintercept.com/2024/01/10/isr…
the Mossad private intel cutout Psy-Group was running honey traps & that their 2017 project proposal for a psywar on BDS-supporting American civilians was called Project BUTTERFLY. Also, peep the Black Cube, Cambridge Analytica, & Weinstein connects
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