The Ministry of Defense reduced the number of countries allowed to export electronic devices distributed by Israeli companies from 102 to 37 countries. Hungary is not among the beneficiaries.
Israel Update the list of those countries, which Israeli companies can sell their cybersecurity devices to. The Israeli financial portal Calcalist reported that the number of beneficiary countries decreased from 102 to 37. Reuters news agency also published the news. In addition to the United States and Canada, the new list mainly includes Western European and European Union countries, but Hungary is not among them. The article does not write specifically about Hungary, but in light of the fact that the manufacturer of the product, NSO, also allowed the possibility of termination of the contract due to the scandal surrounding the Pegasus spyware, it is possible that this played a role in the decision. The reasoning presented by the paper suggests this as well.
The updated list, released in early November, does not include countries such as Morocco, Mexico, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, which are said to be among the countries that have acquired offensive cyber assets from the UFO. The company did not confirm which countries it does business with, but claims that it only sold to countries approved by the Department of Defense. Assuming this statement is correct, it appears that Israel has been very lenient in granting the necessary licenses to sell cyber assets and was aware of all the sales made by the UFO.
New menu It makes it more difficult for Israeli cybersecurity companies, particularly those that sell offensive cyber assets and operate in countries with authoritarian regimes or where human rights have been violated.
The Israeli cyber security sector currently generates $10 billion in annual revenue, and offensive cyber assets are believed to account for 10 percent of sales. About 13% of all cybersecurity companies operate in Israel, and 29% of all investments in the sector belong to Israeli companies.
It is unclear if one of the reasons for the shortening of the list was that the Department of Defense was aware that the US Commerce Department was planning to put Israel’s NSO and Candir on the trade blacklist. The US agency said earlier this month that NSOs and Candiru sold spyware to foreign governments, which used the tools to target government officials, journalists, and others.
The Defense Ministry explained to Calcalist that Israel is constantly reviewing its policy to control its defense exports, including exports of electronic products. Only government institutions are allowed to export these electronic products. These tools may only be used lawfully for crime prevention, law enforcement and counterterrorism purposes. The purchasing country must comply with this. If it turns out that the purchasing country does not use the product in accordance with the terms of the license or the obligation of the buying country, [Izrael] The appropriate action begins.
The updated list includes these countries according to Calcalist: Austria, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Estonia, Bulgaria, Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Greece, Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Malta, Norway, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Portugal Finland, Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United States and Canada.
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