A disgruntled employee of a top Israeli cyber defense company tried to sell state security secrets, the State Attorney's Office revealed Thursday. The exact nature of the case remains under a gag order.
The Cyber Crimes Division at the State Attorney's Office recently indicted a former senior programmer at NSO Group Technologies, an Israeli cybersecurity firm that specializes in developing counter-cyberattack instruments, for trying to sell the company's proprietary software on the dark web.
Also known as "darknet," this part of the World Wide Web is only accessible by means of special software, allowing users and website operators to remain anonymous and untraceable.
According to the indictment, before his dismissal from NSO, the employee copied software and offered to sell it for $50 million on the dark web.
The suspect, 38, has been charged with employee theft with the intent to compromise national security, pursuing an unlicensed defense transaction, and disruption of materials on the computer system.
Founded in 2010, NSO is currently valued at $900 million. The company's operations involve intelligence gathering for defense and security purposes and it sells its products to security forces in Israel and around the world. As such, it is subject to the supervision of the Defense Ministry's Export Control Department.
The prosecution said the suspect had access to company servers, software and source codes as part of his position as a senior programmer.
On April 24, the company began termination proceedings against the suspect. According to the indictment, after learning he was about to be dismissed, "The defendant accessed the company's servers and, using a USB flash drive, downloaded company software, products and information, including the source code of the software, while overcoming the servers' network security system."
The value of the software and products he stole is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars, the prosecution said.
Once in possession of the material, the suspect, posing as a hacker, used the dark web to contact a potential buyer. He offered to sell the software for $50 million and asked for payment in virtual currency, so as to maintain his anonymity.
The potential buyer, however, turned out to be a "double agent" and reported the offer to NSO officials. The company contacted the Israel Police and together with the Cyber Crimes Unit, it set up a sting operation.
The would-be buyer asked for details about the software and source codes stolen, and once he had the information, the police arrested the programmer.
According to the prosecution, "The defendant's actions seriously jeopardized the NSO Group and could have led to its collapse. He further compromised state security."
The state further asked for the suspect to be remanded to police custody pending the conclusion of the legal proceedings against him, saying his actions "attest to the threat he poses to the public and national security."
The suspect's lawyers, Avi Himi and Meital Toledano issued a statement saying, "Recently, it seems Israel has become fascinated by espionage cases, but our client has never tried to undermine national security. There is nothing worse than trying to label our client as a security offender. He is a decent man, who loves this country and it never crossed his mind to undermine its security.
"We believe the court will get to the truth in this case. We will prove these allegations to be disproportionate and baseless."
A statement by the NSO Group said, "Preventing and identifying insider-theft is a constant challenge. In this case, the company quickly identified the attempted theft, launched an immediate investigation, identified the relevant party and updated law enforcement authorities, which acted swiftly and efficiently to arrest the culprit based on the incriminating evidence obtained by the company.
"The indictment explicitly states that the former employee committed the theft with the intent to profit. The indictment further states, very clearly, that the material was neither used nor published or disclosed to a third party. We thank the police and the prosecution for their fast and professional work," the company said.
