Ghost Operators: How Israeli Telecoms Were Exploited to Track Citizens Worldwide
6 hours ago
- #telecom security
- #digital privacy
- #surveillance
- Israeli telecom infrastructure was used for global citizen tracking in over ten countries via surveillance operations exploiting legacy and modern network protocols.
- Two main tracking operations were identified, likely by commercial firms selling to governments; one used Israeli geolocation tech through networks like 019Mobile and Partner Communications, despite denials.
- The sophisticated second operation involves a Swiss firm linked to Israeli surveillance companies, allowing impersonation of carriers to tap into SS7 and newer systems like Diameter for tracking.
- Tracking methods included exploiting SS7 and Diameter signaling systems, with over 500 location attempts logged across multiple countries from 2022-2025, and SIMjacking to secretly transmit device locations.
- Companies implicated include Cognyte (with its SkyLock tool), Fink Telecom Services, and Exelera Telecom, highlighting widespread exploitation of telecom vulnerabilities despite regulatory bans and security upgrades.