Israel Firms 'Ran Vast Spy Ring'

[Gold9472]

Israeli firms 'ran vast spy ring'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4594255.stm

Police in Israel say they have uncovered a huge industrial spying ring which used computer viruses to probe the systems of many major companies.

At least 15 Israeli firms have been implicated in the espionage plot, with 18 people arrested in Israel and two more held by British police.

Among those under suspicion are major Israeli telecoms and media companies.

Police say the companies used a "Trojan horse" computer virus written by an Israeli to hack into rivals' systems.

Interpol and the authorities in Britain, Germany and the US are already involved in investigating the espionage, which Israeli police fear may involve major international companies.

Hi-tech rivalry
"This is one of the gravest scandals in... industrial and market espionage in Israel," special fraud investigator Supt Roni Hindi told Israeli media.

Israel's investigation has been running since November, uncovering as it expanded an intricate web of alleged espionage among some of the nation's best-known companies.

The country's biggest telecoms company, Bezeq, initially came under suspicion as the parent company of two mobile phone operators accused of spying on a mutual rival.

Bezeq now says the Trojan horse virus has been discovered on its own systems.

Police now suspect that another mobile phone operator ordered the spying against Bezeq, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reports.

Two rival car import firms are suspected of spying on each other, as are two of Israel's major satellite and cable television companies.

No charges have been brought so far and the companies at the centre of the police inquiry say they have done nothing wrong and are co-operating with the authorities.

Police fear that as many as 60 Israeli and international companies could be involved or affected.

Trojan horse viruses work by installing themselves within a computer system and then allowing hackers to monitor, track or even control that system.

Police have arrested an Israeli man living in London, 41-year-old Michael Haefrati, on suspicion of writing the software and then selling it onto middle men acting for interested parties within the corporate sector.

Company executives, private detectives, and former members of the Israeli state security services are among others already arrested.

"Above all it's a story of company fat cats who left their morals in their limousine," said Sever Plotsker, a commentator in Israel's mass-market newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

[Gold9472]

ISRAEL

This is part of a speech from Michael Ruppert on August 31st, 2004 at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco... I thought this story may or may not b e relevant, but I wanted to post it anyway...

"I MUST NOW DIGRESS TO SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT ISRAEL. ISRAEL IS A COUNTRY. JUDAISM IS A RELIGION.

IT IS NO MORE PROPER TO SAY THAT THE ACTIONS OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ARE ABOVE CRITICISM THAN IT IS TO SAY THAT CRITICISM OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IS A CRITICISM OF ALL AMERICANS. THERE ARE MANY DIRECT CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES AND THE EVENTS OF 9/11 INCLUDING A REPORT FROM THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, SHOWING THAT MORE THAN 100 ISRAELI COVERT OPERATIVES WERE FUNCTIONING INSIDE THE UNITED STATES JUST BEFORE AND DURING THE ATTACKS. SOME OF THESE OPERATIVES WERE PLACED IN EXTREMELY CLOSE PROXIMITY TO FOUR OF THE 9/11 HIJACKERS IN SOUTH FLORIDA AND SAN DIEGO. ISRAELI COMPANIES SUCH AS AMDOCS, COMVERSE AND ODIGO HAD DIRECT CONNECTIONS TO THE EVENTS OF 9/11. A “FORMER” ISRAELI ANTI-TERROR OPERATIVE WAS ON BOARD AMERICAN FLIGHT 11.

TO SAY THAT ISRAEL PLAYED A CRIMINAL ROLE IN THE ATTACKS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS SAYING THAT ISRAEL PERPETRATED THE ATTACKS. A KEY QUESTION ASKED BY ANY HOMICIDE INVESTIGATOR IS CUI BONO? WHO BENEFITS. AND ON THIS ACCOUNT WE CAN FIND ONLY THREE COUNTRIES, THE US, BRITAIN AND ISRAEL THAT HAVE NEVER WAVERED IN THEIR SUPPORT OF EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE 9/11.

TONIGHT, EVEN AS I SPEAK, AN ISRAELI SPY SCANDAL IS SPREADING THROUGH THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE PENTAGON AND REVELATIONS FROM BREAKING NEWS STORIES STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT THE INFORMATION BEING PROVIDED TO THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT CARRIED WITH IT THE SANCTION OF SOME OF THE SAME PEOPLE I HAVE CHARGED IN “CROSSING THE RUBICON” WITH PERPETRATING THE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11 TH. TONIGHT I PREDICT THAT THE CURRENT SCANDAL WILL OVERLAP AND CONNECT WITH THE RECENT ARREST BY SOUTH AFRICAN AUTHORITIES OF SIR MARK THATCHER, SON OF FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER MARGARET THATCHER, FOR HIS ROLE IN SPONSORING AN ABORTED COUP IN THE WEST AFRICAN NATION OF EQUATORIAL GUINEA. THE MOTIVE: BRITISH COMMERCIAL ACQUISITION OF OIL RIGHTS IN A REGION THAT – AS I HAVE BEEN WRITING FOR TWO YEARS NOW – IS DESTINED TO BECOME THE NEXT REGIONAL ZONE OF CONFRONTATION.

WEST AFRICAN NATIONS FROM SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, TO NIGERIA, TO SIERRA LEONE, TO SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, TO CHAD, TO CAMEROON TO ANGOLA ARE ALL FEVERISH OIL-RUSH BOOM TOWNS WHERE NATIONS, MONEY, MILITARY MIGHT, COVERT OPERATIONS AND INTRIGUE ARE CONVERGING WITH LIGHTNING SPEED TO CONTROL OIL RESERVES. ALTHOUGH MUCH SMALLER THAN THE RESERVES OF THE MIDDLE EAST, THESE AFRICAN RESERVES ARE CRITICAL SWING AND LESSER SUPPLIERS OF OIL IN A WORLD WHERE – AS WE TOO WELL KNOW – THE REMOVAL OF JUST A MILLION BARRELS A DAY FROM GLOBAL SUPPLY CAN WREAK ECONOMIC HAVOC. AFRICA’S PRICELESS ENERGY TAKES ONLY ABOUT TWO WEEKS TO REACH AN AMERICAN GAS TANK AS OPPOSED TO THE SIX WEEK JOURNEY REQUIRED FOR OIL FROM THE MIDDLE EAST.

LAST SPRING, JUST AFTER THE US OCCUPATION OF IRAQ, IT WAS DISCLOSED THAT THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT HAD ENTERED NEGOTIATIONS WITH US REPRESENTATIVES TO EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY OF REBUILDING A DEMOLISHED PIPELINE FROM NORTHERN IRAQ TO THE ISRAELI PORT OF HAIFA.

TO LEVEL A CHARGE OF ANTI-SEMITISM AT ME OR ANYONE ELSE WHO DARES TO CRITICIZE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ACTIONS IS TO ARGUE THAT ISRAEL AND ALL OF JUDAISM IS A MONOLITHIC STRUCTURE, SHARING ONLY ONE VIEWPOINT. IT IS TO SAY THAT BEING A JEW MEANS BEING A LIKUDNIK. IT IS TO OVERLOOK THE ENORMOUS DISSENT WITHIN ISRAEL OF GROUPS LIKE WOMEN IN BLACK, NOT IN OUR NAMES, AND THE ALMOST 700 COMMISSIONED AND NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS FROM THE ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES WHO HAVE REFUSED TO SERVE IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES. IT IS TO IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE NEPHEW OF BENJAMIN NETANYAHU HAS REFUSED COMPULSORY MILITARY SERVICE AND RISKS JAIL FOR THAT DECISION.

I LOOK IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM AND I SEE MY DEAR FRIEND, AGENT AND PUBLICIST KEN LEVINE. LAST SPRING I WAS PRIVILEGED TO PARTICIPATE IN A SEDER AT THE HOME OF HIS INCREDIBLE 92 YEAR OLD MOTHER."