Israel is easing export rules on offensive cyber weapons, despite accusations by human rights and privacy groups that its technologies are used by some governments to spy on political foes and crush dissent.
A rule change by the Defense Ministry means that companies can now obtain exemptions on marketing licenses for the sale of some products to specific countries, a source told Reuters.
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Israel, like other big defense exporters, closely guards details of its weapons sales and its export rules are not widely known, but the Defense Ministry confirmed that the change had gone into force about a year ago.
Industry specialists say that the change makes a speedier approval process possible for the sale of cyber weapons, or spyware, which are used to break into electronic devices and monitor online communications.
The Defense Ministry said that the rule change "was made to facilitate effective service to Israeli industries while maintaining and protecting international standards of export control and supervision."
It said that a marketing-license exemption was granted only under "certain conditions related to the security clearance of the product and assessment of the country toward which the product will be marketed" and that companies were still required to hold an export license.
Until recently, advanced cyber weapons were deployed only by the most technologically sophisticated government spy agencies, such as those in the United States and Israel.
But now a robust commercial market for powerful hacking tools and services has emerged, with former government cyber experts from the United States, Israel, and other countries playing a big role in the trade.
That has brought new scrutiny over how cyber weapons are bought, sold and deployed, and the actions of governments in regulating the trade.
Israeli companies are among the world's leaders in the growing global market for cyber weapons. The software tools exploit vulnerabilities in cellphones and other high tech products to gain access and covertly monitor users.
Some privacy and human rights groups say that Israel's controls on the sale of cyber weapons are inadequate. Earlier this year, Amnesty said the government should take a tougher line against export licenses that have "resulted in human rights abuses."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cyber conference in June that there were demands to regulate the sector more as it grows. "But I think we have to take the risk, and it's a considerable risk, of regulating less in order to grow more," he said.
Israel's approval process for exporting cyber weapons is more rigorous than in some other countries such as the United States and Britain, said Daniel Reisner, a partner at law firm Herzog Fox Neeman who represents many Israeli cyber firms. That put Israel's industry "at a huge disadvantage", he said.
Under the rule change, the approval process can be up to four months quicker and this has been "a huge help," he added. Previously, it could take close to a year for a new company to obtain approval, he said.
