Cognyte, Israeli Software Company, Sells Spyware Wiretapping To Myanmar Military Junta Before Coup

Illustration of Cognyte, an Israeli software company. (photo: twitter @Cogniyte)

JAKARTA - Israel's Cognyte Software Ltd won a tender to sell interceptor spyware to a Myanmar government-backed telco a month before a military coup in this Southeast Asian country in February 2021, this was revealed in documents reviewed by Reuters.

The deal was made despite Israel claiming to have halted the transfer of defense technology to Myanmar following a 2017 ruling by Israel's Supreme Court, according to a lawsuit recently filed with Israel's attorney general and disclosed on Sunday, January 15.

While the ruling is subject to a rare gag order at the request of the state and the media cannot quote the ruling, the Israeli government has publicly stated on multiple occasions that defense exports to Myanmar have been banned.

The complaint, led by prominent Israeli human rights lawyer Eitay Mack who spearheaded the campaign for a Supreme Court decision, calls for a criminal investigation into the deals.

Mack accused Cognyte and unnamed Israeli defense and foreign ministry officials who oversee such deals of "aiding and abetting crimes against humanity in Myanmar."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of more than 60 Israelis, including the former Speaker of the House of Representatives as well as prominent activists, academics and writers.

Documents about the deal, provided to Reuters and Mack by activist group Justice for Myanmar, is a January 2021 letter with an attachment from the Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT) to local regulators listing Cognyte as the winning vendor for the intercept technology and recording an order for the purchase. was issued on December 30, 2020.

Intercept spyware can give authorities the power to listen in on phone calls, view text messages and web traffic including email, and track a user's location without the help of telecommunication companies and the internet.

Representatives for Cognyte, Myanmar's military government, and the MPT did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Reuters. Japan's KDDI Corp and Sumitomo Corp, which owns shares in MPT, also declined to comment. They said they did not know details about the intercepted communication.

Israel's attorney general did not respond to requests for comment on the complaint. The foreign ministry also did not respond to requests for comment on the deal, while the defense ministry declined to comment.

Two people with knowledge of the government's intercept plan separately told Reuters that the Cognyte system was tested by the MPT. They declined to be identified for fear of reprisals by the Myanmar junta.

MPT uses interceptor spyware, a source with direct knowledge of the problem and three people briefed on the matter told Reuters although they did not identify the vendor. Unfortunately, Reuters was unable to determine whether the sale of Cognyte's tapping technology to MPT had been completed.

Even before the coup, public concern had been growing in Israel about the country's defense exports to Myanmar following the country's brutal 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya population when Aung San Suu Kyi's government was in power. The crackdown prompted a petition led by Mack asking the Supreme Court to ban arms exports to Myanmar.

According to a UN report, since the coup, Myanmar's military junta has killed thousands of people including many of their political opponents.

According to cybersecurity experts, in fact many governments around the world allow what is commonly called 'legitimate wiretapping' to be used by law enforcement agencies to catch criminals. Even this technology is usually not used without any legal process.

According to industry executives and activists previously interviewed by Reuters, the Myanmar junta also uses invasive telecommunications spyware without legal protection to protect human rights.

Mack said Cognyte's participation in the tender contradicted statements made by Israeli officials after the Supreme Court ruled that no security exports were made to Myanmar.

While interceptor spyware is usually described as "dual-use" technology for both civilian and defense purposes, Israeli law also states that "dual-use" technology is classified as defense equipment.

Israeli law also requires companies exporting defense-related products to apply for export and marketing licenses when executing deals. The legal complaint says any official who licensed Cognyte for the Myanmar deal should be investigated. Reuters was unable to determine whether Cognyte had also obtained the license.

Around the time of the 2020 deal, the political situation in Myanmar was tense as the military debated the election results won by Suu Kyi.

Norway's Telenor, formerly one of the largest telecommunications companies in Myanmar before withdrawing from the country last year, also said in a December 3, 2020 briefing and statement that it was concerned about plans by Myanmar authorities to carry out lawful wiretapping because of the country's inadequate legal protections.

Prohibited By Meta

Nasdaq-listed Cognyte was spun off in February 2021 from Verint Systems Inc, a pioneering giant in Israel's cybersecurity industry.

Cognyte, which had annual revenues of $474 million for its most recent financial year, will also be banned from Facebook in 2021. Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc said in a report that Cognyte "enables the management of fake accounts across media platforms." social".

Meta said its investigation identified Cognyte customers in countries such as Kenya, Mexico and Indonesia and their targets included journalists and politicians. But they do not identify customers or targets. Meta also did not respond to requests for further comment.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund last month excluded Cognyte from its portfolio, saying countries it said were customers of its surveillance products and services "have been accused of very serious human rights violations". The fund does not name any state.

Cognyte has not publicly responded to the claims made by Meta or any Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.