Israeli Hackers who Meddle in Elections Have Presence in Greece | Greek Reporter |
The news broke by an international team of journalists who investigated the team with the codename "Team Jorge" run by Tal Hanan, a 50-year-old former Israeli special forces operative who now works privately using the pseudonym "Jorge".
The The Guardian says that by using hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation on social media "Team Jorge" claims covert involvement in 33 elections around the globe. The group also works for corporate clients.
One of Team Jorge's key services is a sophisticated software package, Advanced Impact Media Solutions, or Aims. It controls a vast army of thousands of fake social media profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, Gmail, Instagram and YouTube. Some avatars even have Amazon accounts with credit cards, bitcoin wallets and Airbnb accounts.
The consortium of journalists that investigated Team Jorge includes reporters from 30 outlets including Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País.
Here you can find all of the "Story Killers" articles
INVESTIGATION 'Le Monde' and the Forbidden Stories consortium reveal the inner workings of these operatives based in Israel who provide smear and disinformation campaigns shared by tens of thousands of fake accounts on social media.
"Team Jorge" might as well not exist. This phantom company has no website, no switchboard and no accessible contact details. In order to avail of its services, you must either approach one of the showcase companies that gravitate around it, or be put in touch with someone close to "Jorge", the elusive chief mercenary who presents himself only under a pseudonym. This secrecy is explained by the nature of the services Team Jorge provides: à la carte smear campaigns and disinformation, ranging from hacking e-mail boxes to spreading rumors through fake news sites and creating armies of fake profiles on social networks.
à la carte smear campaigns and disinformation
How does this remind me of wealthy Arab States, Pegasus spyware and especially the UAE campaign to hire NSA specialists and the best of Israel's Unit 1800.
BlackCube
Harvey Weinstein says he hired Israeli firm Black Cube `for days like this' | TOI |
Media War: Trump's Pecker v Hillary's Bezos | Feb 8th, 2019 |
The leaked messages could be from any intelligence source or a combination - GCHQ-NSA-Mossad-BlackCube - the deep state working beyond the oversight of government and parliament.
Ex-NSA cyberspies reveal how they helped hack foes of UAE | Reuters - Jan. 30, 2019 |
Two weeks after leaving her position as an intelligence analyst for the U.S. National Security Agency in 2014, Lori Stroud was in the Middle East working as a hacker for an Arab monarchy.
She had joined Project Raven, a clandestine team that included more than a dozen former U.S. intelligence operatives recruited to help the United Arab Emirates engage in surveillance of other governments, militants and human rights activists critical of the monarchy.
Stroud and her team, working from a converted mansion in Abu Dhabi known internally as "the Villa," would use methods learned from a decade in the U.S intelligence community to help the UAE hack into the phones and computers of its enemies.
Stroud had been recruited by a Maryland cybersecurity contractor to help the Emiratis launch hacking operations, and for three years, she thrived in the job. But in 2016, the Emiratis moved Project Raven to a UAE cybersecurity firm named DarkMatter. Before long, Stroud and other Americans involved in the effort say they saw the mission cross a red line: targeting fellow Americans for surveillance.
State Department debars ex-NSA cyber mercenaries who aided vast UAE surveillance operation | Cyberscoop - Aug. 31, 2022 |
The former intelligence operatives worked in a hacking unit of the cybersecurity firm DarkMatter, which is known for developing spyware.
Black-Ops Mercenaries On the Internet by Oui on Jan 31st, 2019 |
Election cycle 2026, election of Trump ...
American Cyber Security Cowboys | Oct 29th, 2019 |
