Bureau of Industry and Security

Spotlight | Israel, Singapore
Paragon carves new place for Israeli cyber in Singapore

Paragon, backed by former PM Ehud Barak, recently landed a major contract in Singapore, confirming its status as the new star of Israeli cyber-intelligence.

Israel, United States
Paragon hires Holland & Knight to remain in Washington's good graces

Backed by Israeli ex-prime minister Ehud Barak, cyberintelligence specialist Paragon has managed to remain on good terms with Washington. It nonetheless brought on a lobbying firm with a good track record in avoiding sanctions, Holland & Knight.

Spotlight | India, Israel
Israel's NSO and Candiru eye new Indian interceptions contract

The Israeli cyberintelligence firm NSO Group is circling a tender with India's Research & Analysis Wing, but Indian officials are reticent to team with the company behind the Pegasus spyware. Candiru, which is close to NSO, would also like a slice of the action.

The Corporate Intelligence Village Voice
Vcheck changes leadership, Schmidt goes from Schillings to CT Group, Hakluyt recruits, FTI and Orrick on sanctions in Germany

Appointments, financial results, new contracts: every Wednesday, we report on events big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community, in New York, London, Berlin and Washington.

New YorkVcheck shakes things up at the top

LondonAnna Schmidt moves from Schillings to CT Group

LondonRich pickings for Hakluyt in the US

LondonNiblett also advises Hakluyt

Berlin/WashingtonSanctions platform steered by FTI and Orrick

Israel
Former NSO cyber experts reunite in new startup Bold, backed by Israeli businessman Shlomi Fogel

In the wake of NSO Group's Pegasus woes, a number of the firm's cyberintelligence veterans have been snapped up by Bold, a startup supported by Israeli real estate magnate Shlomi Fogel, the CEO of Ampa Group.

Israel
Quadream reels from impact of new regulations

Just like its competitors NSO Group and Candiru, Quadream is feeling the impact of Israel's new export licence regulations. The company has started shedding its workforce and given up some of its more offensive operations.

Spotlight | Israel
Israeli cyber-intelligence tries to get back on top in Indo-Pacific region

Looking for fresh fields after restrictions on exports, Israel's cyber sector is turning to the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.

Israel
IBI, trust services provider for Israel's cyber industry

Candiru, an Israeli cyber-intelligence company blacklisted by the US Industry and Security a year ago, brought IBI Trust Management into its share capital last month. IBI is the supervisory trustee of Frontex provider Windward.

China, United States
Washington sharpens legal weapons against Beijing in global telecoms war

Congress is building a legislative arsenal to undercut Beijing's telecoms ambitions in the US and globally, with the help of the intelligence community.

Spotlight | Europe, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Under pressure from Kyiv and Washington, Moscow rows hard to keep its industries afloat

Besides their political function, Western sanctions against Moscow have taken on high stakes for security - both for NATO analysts seeking to assess the potential resilience of Russia's strategic industries and for Ukraine, which is keeping a close eye on Russia's emerging alternative trade routes.

United States
NSO-L3-Harris deal fails but prompts calls from Congress for better control of cyberacquisitions

As part of the House of Representative's discussions on the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, Democrat representative Tom Malinowski proposed an amendment aimed at assessing the US president's ability to block acquisitions of sanctioned foreign intelligence companies in a nod to the failed NSO deal.

Spotlight | Israel, United States
Israeli cyber sector in turmoil following abandonment of L3Harris-NSO takeover talks

L3 Harris's plans to take over Israeli cyber intelligence specialist NSO, which were revealed by Intelligence Online less than a month ago, have been called off in the face of strong opposition from the Biden administration.

Israel
Change of control at NSO's rival in strategic market Quadream

Guy Geva and Nimrod Reznik, who co-founded Israeli cyber intelligence company Quadream with Ilan Dabelstein, have sold their shares, just as competitor NSO finds itself in serious difficulty.

Spotlight | Israel, United Kingdom, United States
Private spies search for NSO's true clients

Berkeley Research Group, which has been managing the fund behind Israeli cyber firm NSO since last year, has hired private investigators to shed light on the company's activities amid a legal wrangle with NSO's shareholders.

Spotlight | Israel, Singapore
PCS increasingly essential to Israeli cyber specialists in the city-state

Israeli cyber-offensive companies have long been present in Singapore, but are now suffering from negative media exposure and are forced to rely more and more on the Singaporean parastatal company PCS Security.

United States
FTI has front row seat of battle by ex-US intelligence official wrongly accused of spying

After being accused of being a foreign power's mole by the Department of Commerce's security office when he was in charge of monitoring the export of sensitive technolgies, Stephen Wilcox, FTI's new director of export regulations and sanctions in DC, has filed a civil suit for damages.

China, United States
Pangu Lab, Chinese ally of Singapore's zero-day reseller Coseinc, exposes NSA cyber operations

Close to Singapore's zero-day vulnerabilities broker Coseinc and Chinese cybersecurity giant Qi An Xin, China's Pangu Lab has published a lengthy report on a threat campaign attributed to the NSA-linked advance persistent threat group Equation Group.

Singapore
Singapore's Coseinc disappearing from internet following US sanctions

Since the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) placed it under sanctions in November last year, Singapore's Coseinc, which operates the pwn0rama zero-day vulnerabilities programme, is gradually being erased from the internet.

Israel
Wayout and Convexum step back from Israel's struggling NSO Group

Added to the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) blacklist in November last year, the Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group is in increasing financial difficulty, prompting its IoT interception and anti-drone subsidiaries to distance themselves.