Thanks to Israeli Technology: Did Russia Hack a Political Prisoner's Phone?
A new investigation determines: Russia hacked the phone of a famous political prisoner, using technology from the Israeli company Cellebrite. The breach occurred months after the Israeli company canceled contracts with Russia.
Assessment
A new investigation alleges that Russian authorities used technology from the Israeli company Cellebrite to break into the phone of a prominent political prisoner, months after Cellebrite had terminated its contracts with Russia. The story raises questions about the efficacy of corporate sanctions and the potential for dual-use technology to reach adversarial actors despite stated policy changes. The key detail to watch is whether the breach occurred through a third-party intermediary or an unremediated security vulnerability, which would determine the degree of Cellebrite's actual culpability.