The Arrogance of Israeli Spy Firms

The InterApp box. Image: screenshot from Rayzone Group website. (Via MEMO)

An important component of Israel’s global network of terrorism is its arms manufacturers. An increasingly important part of these are its high-tech spy firms, which offer surveillance products to governments around the world. I suspect that one of their main target markets is compliant US-friendly dictators in the Arab world. But as these companies are secretive and totally unaccountable corporate dictatorships, it is hard to know for sure.

In any case, an interesting example came out earlier this month. The Vice website’sMotherboard section published an interesting story about two Wifi spy boxes created by Israeli companies.

According to the brochures intended to flog these devices (provided to Motherbaord by Privacy International and still online as of this writing), they are capable of stealing a vast array of private information from your mobile phone – or the phone of anyone else who happens to walk within the Wifi signal area of one of these boxes.

One of the companies, Rayzone, claims their device can steal this information without any approval or interaction from the owner of the phone – as long as the Wifi capability of the phone is switched on. Your personal photos, contacts, internet browsing history, email password and other important data could be stolen this way, the company claims.

The other device, by Wintego, another Israeli spy firm, is supposedly capable of getting around SSL encryption and accessing the email accounts of its targets (SSL is the strong encryption used by most websites – as such it seems this device targets those using webmail).

When contacted over the phone by Motherboard, Ron Zilka from Rayzone did not wish to comment: “I don’t answer to any journalist … all the equipment is only for governments.” This arrogant comment seems emblematic of Israel in general. From a quick review of what seems to be the public listing of his Facebook profile, Zilka is a Zionist fanatic, having “liked” many extreme right-wing Israeli Facebook pages.

As with the Israeli arms industry, these spy firms often have a revolving-door relationship with institutions of the state. For example, Golan Sieradzki, a manage at Wintego Systems (responsible for the other box) lists on his Linked Profile that he was for three years a data analyst with an Israeli spy agency.

But are these claims about their own products genuine?

– Read more: The Arrogance of Israeli Spy Firms – Asa Winstanley – MEMO

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1 Comment

  1. “Ron Zilka from Rayzone did not wish to comment: “I don’t answer to any journalist … all the equipment is only for governments.” This arrogant comment seems emblematic of Israel in general.”

    Ironically, it is the above statement that is “arrogant” and emblematic of the attitude of pseudo-journalists who think they have the right to run roughshot over anything no mater the consequences or rights of others. Just because you have the “right” to ask questions, the subject has the same right to ignore the questioner.

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