Israeli firms unruly selling spyware to Bangladesh

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Israeli spyware firms provided advanced surveillance technology to Bangladesh in covert transactions over several years. Several Israeli companies named in the probe are controlled by the former commander of "Israel's" spy technology section, according to Israeli media.

Companies founded by Israelis and based in Cyprus, Singapore, and elsewhere have been selling surveillance tech to Dhaka, circumventing Defense Ministry regulation of such exports.

This is happening despite the fact that Bangladesh has no diplomatic ties with "Israel", and any form of trading is considered illegal. Officially, the Dhaka government does not recognize "Israel", and residents are barred from visiting the occupied territories of Palestine.

Official government documents and international export records demonstrate that countries like Bangladesh consider "Israel" as the perfect spot to embark on a "cyber shopping spree." Bangladesh's internal intelligence agency, the NSI, purchased technology for intercepting Wi-Fi connections as per documents dating back to 2019, Haaretz reported.

The report eviscerated many more transactions that used third-party countries to conceal the sale's information.

It also unmasked that Bangladesh's government has been using Israeli-made surveillance technology offered by a convicted criminal to target the political opposition.

It is worth noting that the Israeli-led spyware industry has been embroiled in a seemingly never-ending spate of extremely prominent controversies. Revelations that it sells its spyware to authoritarian regimes, that its products have been used to spy on journalists, activists, politicians, dissidents, and even potentially world leaders, and accusations that it played a role in murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death have put it at the center of international criticism. According to reports, up to 50,000 phone numbers were chosen for surveillance using Israeli malware.

In 2021, the US administration added NSO Group and another Israeli spyware company, Candiru, to its list of entities that constitute a national security concern. Lately, the US Supreme Court rejected a petition from NSO Group to dismiss a complaint that the company used the WhatsApp platform to eavesdrop on 1,400 users in 2019.