After the case of Pegasus, the spyware that was even used to spy on the mobile phone activities of French President Emmanuel Macron, there is a new start-up – also made in Tel Aviv – that raises questions about the use of Israeli technology. It’s about toka, a company that owns software capable of accessing all video surveillance cameras, modifying the images captured in real time and even modifying previous recordings by retrieving them from the archive. A tool that leaves no trace and that, according to the Haaretz newspaper’s research – proposed again in Italy by the Corriere – could overcome any barrier: it is probably the first software of its kind in the world. Toka, the owner company, was founded by the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the former head of the Israeli army’s IT department, Yaron Rosen.
Among the packages sold by the company would also be one that would allow the movements of each car to be tracked in real time without anyone noticing. According to the start-up on its website, these services can only be sold to government organizations, secret services, law enforcement agencies and foreign armies. Toka’s main business partner would be Washington but according to Haaretz, customers include Israel, Germany, Australia and Singapore. However, perusing the site’s pages, it appears that the start-up also has ties to Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Canada. What exactly does the Toka program enable you to do?
The main characteristics are based on the penetration of each video surveillance circuit. Simply select the geographic area of interest to penetrate the CCTV system of an institutional building, hotel and private homes. The software would also work with webcams. Once you have accessed the system, you can see live what is being captured by the “hacked” cameras, but also show the video surveillance system owners what you want. According to the Haaretz files, Toka would also allow for the replacement of past audio and video recordings from archive footage. These features could be used, for example, to cover up 007’s activities, artificially construct court evidence, or pin the blame on the innocent. Certainly, allowing third parties to arbitrarily view images from surveillance cameras and webcams risks undermining citizens’ right to privacy.
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