Pakistan’s Spy Agency Buys Israeli Cellphone Hacking Technology.

Pakistan has no relations with Israel and its passport are ‘valid for all countries except Israel.’ Yet Cellebrite’s tools were sold via Singapore, and are used by the Federal Investigation Agency and national police. Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency and various police units in the country have been using products produced by the Israeli cybertechnology firm Cellebrite since at least 2012. The flagship product of Cellebrite, whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq exchange, is called UFED. It enables law enforcement agencies to engage in digital forensic work by hacking into password-protected cellphones and copying all the information stored on them – including pictures, documents, text messages, calling histories and contacts. Cellebrite, whose CEO is Yossi Carmil, says that its tools are only sold to police departments and security forces – to fight serious crime including terrorism. Over the years, however, the company’s hacking tools have also found their way to organizations that oppress human rights activists, minorities and the LGBTQ community.