Israeli cyber company Cellebrite signed a deal in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of this month, "Globes" has learned. The deal is estimated to be worth $3 million, and was apparently signed with a government agency in Abu Dhabi.
The tools developed by Cellebrite are used by law enforcement agencies and military and intelligence agencies to obtain data and identify dangerous activity. They are also used by some of the world's largest business corporations, such as Apple, Google, Verizon and major banks, for the purposes of (legal) internal investigations.
A source familiar with the details said that the deal was brokered by former Mossad executive David Meidan, who was formerly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy for captured and missing soldiers and who negotiated the release of Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas. Cellebrite and David Meidan declined to comment on the report.
Cellebrite's systems gather and analyze data from mobile telephones and personal computers, cloud computing, and even from civilian drones caught by security forces. According to its figures, in mid-2019 the company had 45% of the mobile telephone forensics market, and its managers have said in the past that its products represent the first work tool in 75% of police investigations globally.
In recent months, several petitions have been filed against Cellebrite, demanding that it should come under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense, because of claims concerning the regimes in the countries whose security agencies are customers of the company.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 22, 2020
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020