Last Sunday, an investigation into the worldwide misuse of spyware developed by veterans of Israeli Intelligence Unit 8200 has attracted great interest. In an article published this week, Whitney WEBB reveals the Toka tool, Israel's most dangerous spyware.

In addition to israeli spyware Pegasus, other companies, such as Toka, are not under investigation, even though their products have even greater potential for abuse and illegal surveillance. Toka was launched in 2018 with the explicit goal of selling a "tailored ecosystem of cyber capabilities and software products for government, law enforcement and security agencies. According to a company profile published in Forbes shortly after its launch, Toka announced itself as "a one-stop shop for hacking for governments that need additional capabilities to combat terrorists and other threats to national security in the digital realm." Toka was launched with the intention of "providing spying tools for all the devices its customers need," including not only smartphones, but also "a special focus on the Internet of Things (IoT)."

Today, Toka claims to offer its police, government and intelligence clients the ability to obtain "targeted intelligence" and conduct "forensic investigations" as well as "covert operations". In addition, Toka offers governments its "Cyber Designers" service, which provides "agencies with the full-spectrum strategies, customized projects, and technologies needed to ensure the security and sustainability of critical infrastructure, the digital landscape, and government institutions." According to the company, this includes devices like Amazon Echo, Google Nest-connected home products, as well as connected refrigerators, thermostats, and alarms. Flaws discovered by Toka in these products would not be disclosed to vendors, meaning that these flaws would remain vulnerable to any hacker, whether Toka's customer or not.