Once incorporated into social media platforms with billions of users, such spyware offers state security agencies a potential near-global reach. That explains the sometimes fraught relationship between Israeli tech firms and Silicon Valley, as the latter struggles to take control of this malware as two contrasting, recent examples highlight.
Mobile phone 'spy kit'In a sign of the tensions, WhatsApp, a social media platform owned by Facebook, initiated the first lawsuit of its kind in a California court last week against NSO, Israel's largest surveillance company.
WhatsApp accuses NSO of cyber attacks. In just a two-week period ending in early May examined by WhatsApp, NSO is reported to have targeted the mobile phones of more than 1,400 users in 20 countries.
NSO's spyware, known as Pegasus, has been used against human rights activists, lawyers, religious leaders, journalists and aid workers. Reuters revealed last week that senior officials of US allies had also been targeted by NSO.
After taking charge of the user's phone without their knowledge, Pegasus copies data and turns on the microphone for surveillance. Forbes magazine has described it as the "world's most invasive mobile spy kit".
NSO has licensed the software to dozens of governments, including prominent human rights-abusing regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Morocco.
Amnesty International has complained that its staff are among those targeted by NSO spyware. It is currently supporting a legal action against the Israeli government for issuing the company with an export licence.
Ties to Israeli security servicesNSO was founded in 2010 by Omri Lavie and Shalev Hulio, both reported to be graduates of Israel's vaunted military intelligence Unit 8200.
In 2014, whistleblowers revealed that the unit routinely spied on Palestinians, trawling through their phones and computers for evidence of sexual improprieties, health problems or financial difficulties that could be used to pressure them into collaborating with Israel's military authorities.
The soldiers wrote that Palestinians were "completely exposed to espionage and surveillance by Israeli intelligence. It is used for political persecution and to create divisions within Palestinian society by recruiting collaborators and driving parts of Palestinian society against itself."
Despite officials issuing export licences to NSO, Israeli government minister Zeev Elkin denied last week "Israeli government involvement" in the hacking of WhatsApp. He told Israeli radio: "Everyone understands that this is not about the state of Israel."
Tracked by camerasIn the same week that WhatsApp launched its legal action, US television channel NBC revealed that Silicon Valley is nonetheless keen to reach out to Israeli startups deeply implicated in abuses associated with the occupation.
Microsoft has invested heavily in AnyVision to further develop sophisticated facial recognition technology that already helps the Israeli military oppress Palestinians.
The connections between AnyVision and the Israeli security services are barely hidden. Its advisory board includes Tamir Pardo, former head of Israel's Mossad spy agency. The company's president, Amir Kain, previously served as head of Malmab, the defence ministry's security department.
AnyVision's main software, Better Tomorrow, has been nicknamed "Occupation Google" because the firm claims it can identify and track any Palestinian by searching footage from the Israeli army's extensive network of surveillance cameras in the occupied territories.
Grave concernDespite obvious ethical problems, Microsoft's investment suggests it may be aiming to incorporate the software into its own programmes. That has caused grave concern among human rights groups.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
1
1
