Why has Pakistan’s spy agency purchased Israeli cellphone hacking tech?

According to the Pakistan-based organization Freedom Network, the law was used to prosecute at least 23 Pakistani journalists in 2021 for “slandering” the security forces, the justice system, and intelligence agencies. One journalist has been charged with treason.

According to Haaretz and TheMarker, Israel had previously engaged in cyber diplomacy, promoting the export of digital weaponry such as NSO’s Pegagus spyware to countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco in exchange for the establishment of official relations or secret agreements.

But according to Mack: “Because of internal political considerations in Islamabad [the Pakistani capital] and due to Israel’s strategic relationship with India, there is no way that the sale of any type of security equipment to Pakistan will advance Pakistan’s relations with Israel. This appears to be another instance of an Israeli company that is focused on its profits and is benefiting from the Defense Ministry’s negligent oversight.”

Over the years, Israel and Pakistan have held secret talks. At the initiative of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and his Pakistani counterpart was held in 2005.

At the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shook Musharraf’s hand. Following the completion of the Gaza disengagement in 2005, Musharraf considered recognising Israel, but the plan was met with fierce domestic opposition and was shelved.

Contacts with Israel are also prohibited for Pakistani citizens. Pakistani passports are explicitly not valid for travel to Israel under Pakistani law.

Five Pakistanis were sentenced to prison time last month for visiting Israel, and a Pakistani television journalist, Ahmed Quraishi, was fired last year for participating in a delegation that visited Israel.

A few months later, another Pakistani delegation visited Israel, sparking considerable debate in Pakistan about the possibility of improved relations between the two countries.

Israel has previously exported arms to Pakistan, including electronic warfare systems, radars, and advanced fighter jet systems, according to a 2013 British government report.

Cellebrite, unlike NSO and other manufacturers of offensive-cyber products, operates in a grey area between security and civilian exports.

Since it was included in the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, which defines which dual-use (security use and civilian use) products require oversight, the export of forensic equipment such as that produced by Cellebrite came under the Defence Ministry’s oversight in 2020.

According to international shipment records, Cellebrite Asia-Pacific Pte (its Singapore subsidiary) sold products directly to Pakistani companies and the Federal Investigation Agency until at least 2019. Despite the fact that Cellebrite’s End User Licence Agreement prohibits sales to Pakistan.

In Pakistan, it was reported in 2012 that the Sind Province police had acquired UFED Touch Ultimate devices manufactured by Cellebrite, and their use has grown since then.

These systems are regularly used by police units and the FIA, according to operating manuals, documents, and official invitations to bid.

Former and current FIA officials tasked with enforcing the draconian cybercrime law state on their LinkedIn profiles that they have been trained and certified to use these systems, which they use on a regular basis.

In the country, court rulings mention the extraction of forensic evidence from telephones but do not specify which technology was used. Pakistan also employs forensic systems manufactured by other companies, but in an FIA request for proposals issued in 2021 for systems manufactured by two other companies – Belkasoft and Compelson – both were required to support files created using Cellebrite’s technology.

The Punjab police department has issued bid requests for three UFED Ultimate devices. And one from the Peshawar police counterterrorism division, dated May of this year, includes a request to renew the UFED licence for another two years.

A 2021 catalogue from Pakistan’s National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation boasts a long list of indigenous technologies. On page 17, however, there is a listing for a Cellebrite UFED Touch 2.

NRTC promotes BlackBag’s Mobilyze digital forensic technology on the following page. In 2020, Cellebrite acquired BlackBag.

The spyware link between Israel and Pakistan spans decades, political parties, and governments.

When Cellebrite’s tools were first reported in use in 2012, Pakistan was ruled by the Pakistan People’s Party.

The trade continued under Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League administration, which also saw the passage of the draconian police surveillance act.

The 2021 FIA tender was issued during the tenure of Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party, a time when Cellbrite’s Singapore subsidiary continued to sell its products directly to Pakistan.

The Peshawar police tender took place during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Cellebrite stated in its response to this article, “The company does not sell to Pakistan, directly or indirectly,” but refused to explain how that claim squares with Cellebrite-Singapore’s shipment certificates to Pakistan and official tenders in Pakistan demonstrating that the country’s investigation agency and police use its technology.

“Cellebrite is committed to its goal of creating a safer world by providing solutions for law enforcement bodies that permit them to solve crimes more quickly,” the company added.

“For that purpose, we have developed strict means of oversight that ensure proper use of our technology in the context of investigations carried out by virtue of the law.

As a global leader in digital intelligence, Cellebrite’s solutions assist thousands of law enforcement agencies to convict those who endanger public security and to do justice to the victims of crime.”