Archiv: Toka (spy corporation / programs)


25.12.2025 - 12:01 [ Common Dreams ]

Human Rights Expert Sounds Alarm Over Israeli Firm’s ‘Dystopian’ Video-Altering Tech

(December 27, 2022)

The company, whose activities are overseen by the Israeli Defense Ministry, “was set up in 2018 and has offices in Tel Aviv and Washington,” Haaretz reported. “It works solely with state clients in government, intelligence bodies, and law enforcement agencies, almost exclusively—but not just—in the West. According to the internal documents, as of 2021, the company had contracts with Israel valued at $6 million, and had also planned an ‘expansion of existing deployment’ in Israel.”

Toka can tap into web-connected cameras found virtually everywhere—intersections, parking lots, malls, hotels, airports, and even homes. Haaretz compared the firm’s “cyberoffense” capabilities to the 2001 heist movie Ocean’s Eleven.

25.12.2025 - 10:22 [ New York Post ]

This ‘dystopian’ new spy technology should terrify you

(December 29, 2022)

Frightening new technology in the hands of government intelligence agencies has the ability to commandeer any smart camera and even “alter feeds” to manipulate both its audio and visuals — including past recordings, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

(…)

Specifically, it can “transform untapped [Internet of things] sensors into intelligence sources” in the interest of “intelligence and operational needs,” according to 2021 internal company documents Haaretz obtained.

(…)

The Toka rep added that its only clients are “the US and its closest allies … Toka does not sell to private clients or individuals.”

25.12.2025 - 10:07 [ NoCamels.com ]

Cyber Firm Co-Founded By Former Israeli PM Raises $12.5M

(July 16, 2018)

The company, which will create spy tools and software for clients to help fight national security threats, is heavily focused on IoT devices, like Amazon Echo, Alexa smart alarms and more.

“The proliferation of connected devices and the rise of IoT have transformed the digital and security landscape, creating new threats, as well as opportunities for those entrusted with keeping their people safe.

25.12.2025 - 09:58 [ Haaretz ]

Knesset extends order allowing IDF, Shin Bet to hack into private security cameras

(December 24, 2025)

The Knesset approved a one-year extension of a temporary order that authorizes the IDF and Shin Bet security service to hack into private security cameras without their owners‘ knowledge.

Although the temporary order originally stipulated that hacking into cameras would only be done in cases related to „significant military activities,“ the current proposal eliminated this condition so that the order would not be dependent on the state of war. However, the grounds for activating the order were reduced.

Ten Knesset members voted in favor of the order in the third and final vote, with no opponents.

25.12.2025 - 09:51 [ Middle East Eye ]

Israeli parliament extends order allowing Israeli military, intelligence access into private security cameras

(December 24, 2025)

Israel’s Knesset approved a one-year extension of a temporary order allowing the Israeli military and Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet to hack into private security cameras without owners’ knowledge, Haaretz reported.

The original order limited such access to cases involving “significant military activities.”

The updated legislation removed this restriction, allowing the order to be used regardless of a state of war, while narrowing the grounds for its activation. In the third and final vote, ten Knesset members supported the measure and none opposed it.

29.03.2024 - 22:45 [ CommonDreams.org ]

Human Rights Expert Sounds Alarm Over Israeli Firm‘s ‚Dystopian‘ Video-Altering Tech

(December 27, 2022)

Haaretz continued:

Twenty years on, this is no longer the stuff of movies: Toka‘s tech allows clients to do just that and more—not just diverting a live feed but also altering old feeds and erasing any evidence of a covert op.
Technical documents reviewed by an ethical hacker prove that Toka‘s tech can alter both live and recorded video feeds—all without leaving any forensics or telltale signs of a hack (in contrast to NSO‘s Pegasus spyware, or Intellexa‘s Predator, which leave a digital fingerprint on targeted devices).

29.03.2024 - 22:35 [ Truthout.org ]

Israeli Firm Plans Expanding Its Deployment of Video-Altering Tech

(December 27, 2022)

Co-founded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cyber chief Yaron Rosen, Toka “sells technologies that allow clients to locate security cameras or even webcams within a given perimeter, hack into them, watch their live feed, and even alter it — and past recordings,” Haaretz reported, citing internal documents it obtained and reviewed with a technical expert.

The company, whose activities are overseen by the Israeli Defense Ministry, “was set up in 2018 and has offices in Tel Aviv and Washington,” Haaretz reported.

29.03.2024 - 22:30 [ Haaretz ]

Revealed: The Israeli Firm Selling ‘Dystopian’ Hacking Capabilities

(December 23, 2022)

According to a company pitch deck obtained by Haaretz, Toka offers what it terms “previously out-of-reach capabilities” that “transform untapped IoT sensors into intelligence sources,” and can be used “for intelligence and operational needs.” (IoT stands for Internet of Things and refers here to web-connected cameras and even car media systems.)

29.03.2024 - 22:02 [ Forbes ]

Alexa, Are You A Spy? Israeli Startup Raises $12.5 Million So Governments Can Hack IoT

(July 15, 2018)

Coming out of stealth Monday, Tel Aviv-based Toka says it‘ll provide spy tools for whatever device its clients require. But while it‘ll try to hack devices like Apple iPhones, it has a special focus on the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), covering tech like Amazon Echo, Nest connected home products, as well as connected fridges, thermostats and alarms. (…)

Two of Toka’s investors, Dell Technologies Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, for instance, have put millions of dollars into defensive companies beforehand. (The other seed investors are Entrée Capital, Launch Capital and Ray Rothrock, CEO of cyber-analytics firm RedSeal).

30.12.2022 - 17:43 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Wie im Gangster-Film: Firma will Überwachungskameras für Geheimdienste manipulieren

Auch mit Deutschland soll es zumindest Gespräche gegeben haben, geht aus den Haaretz vorliegenden Dokumenten hervor. Neben den USA und Australien soll es zudem Kontakt mit Singapur gegeben haben, einem nicht-demokratischen Staat. Ob die Länder tatsächlich Produkte von Toka einsetzen, ist nicht bekannt.

Der Markt für vernetzte Geräte wie Videokameras, Kühlschränke und Autos wächst seit Jahren kontinuierlich an.

25.12.2022 - 04:26 [ Haaretz ]

Revealed: The Israeli Firm Selling ‘Dystopian’ Hacking Capabilities

According to a company pitch deck obtained by Haaretz, Toka offers what it terms “previously out-of-reach capabilities” that “transform untapped IoT sensors into intelligence sources,” and can be used “for intelligence and operational needs.” (IoT stands for Internet of Things and refers here to web-connected cameras and even car media systems.)