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  • Lebanese army paid over 1M USD for spyware

samer wrote"HackingTeam" is an Italian company that sells spyware to governments. It was hacked yesterday and a 400 GB torrent surfaces with all their emails, source code and other sensitive data.

One of the invoices is addressed to the Lebanese army. Apparently they purchased "Remote Control System: Galileo", a software that helps governments "take control of [their] targets and monitor them regardless of encryption and mobility". Here's a video promoting Galileo.

The invoice indicates that 1.15 million USD is only the first settlement and not the total price of the software.

https://i.imgur.com/vnmWtjFl.jpg
Is it the start of the police state ? Are we going down the path the US took ? Lebanese Security Agency (LSA) anybody ?
Hearing that, my first thought is not about privacy and snooping, but more about money squandering and laundering.
Interesting... to say the least.
The irony with what happened, "the HackingTeam" got hacked.
no more freedom in this country.
USA, Cyprus and many other countries use it too.

I just wonder how it exactly works...
Between "Jara2em l Ma3loumetiyye" and the "Intelligence" and the "Ma3loumet" .... wow it's really....
and with all those technologies, they couldn't catch the child kidnapper, and his poor parents had to pay 50K for the kidnappers :)
What's wrong with the intelligence services investing in hacking software/hardware? I would be surprised if this wasn't happening.

It doesn't necessarily mean the big, bad government is here to spook around on all your innocent porn-watching. They use this stuff to go after suspects and criminals which is fine by me.
@tt400, this is why criminals are kidnapping people, stealing cars, and getting paid, did you hear about the kidnap in Amchit 3 days ago?
tt400 wroteIt doesn't necessarily mean the big, bad government is here to spook around on all your innocent porn-watching. They use this stuff to go after suspects and criminals which is fine by me.
The NSA also isn't concerned with spooking on Americans' porn history, but I think the Americans understand a little bit more about privacy than you do pal :)
For some reason i seriously doubt the effectiveness of this Galileo software, the claims sound too good to be true.
ILIA_93 wroteThe NSA also isn't concerned with spooking on Americans' porn history, but I think the Americans understand a little bit more about privacy than you do pal :)
If you honestly believe the ISF is attempting to emulate the NSA or its operations in any way or that the ISF has 10 percent of the capability of the NSA, you are living in another world, buddy.

ironman wrote@tt400, this is why criminals are kidnapping people, stealing cars, and getting paid, did you hear about the kidnap in Amchit 3 days ago?
Look at the statistics regarding the success rates of various famous departments like Interpol, the NYPD, or the GIGN. These are some of the most successful police departments in the entire world and even they cannot solve all crimes or apprehend all criminals on their watch. To suggest that the Lebanese police force, with all its corruption, weaknesses, and political bullshit problems, should be capable of solving all of these problems with ease is laughable. Why don't you go try being a police officer in this country with the budget and accessibility the government has before you talk? Do you know there are some municipalities in Lebanon that have only ONE official policeman on duty? So what are you talking about? You are expecting the FBI in Lebanon? This is a joke.
Bottom line is if there are millions to spend, collected from people, coz hey that's where the government gets it's funding, maybe, just maybe you know, there would be better places to spend them than pretentious software to spy on your own people (those people who pay your salary, you know), and it's a loosing battle on top.
You know what this looks like to me? It looks like software to make hackers and geniuses out of troglodytes. I would not be betting on it too much.
But some kind of money laundering scheme? Maybe.

At the very best, our money squandered.
geekevo wroteFor some reason i seriously doubt the effectiveness of this Galileo software, the claims sound too good to be true.
I'm fairly sure that the dozens of governments around the world who spent millions of dollars on the software have done enough due diligence about its effectiveness. That doesn't mean you can't take measures to defend yourself.
What's wrong with the intelligence services investing in hacking software/hardware? I would be surprised if this wasn't happening.
We both know how widespread corruption is in Lebanon. This amplifies the likelihood of misusing these tools. As rolf mentioned, I would rather see the military spend that money on educating and training their personnel as well as updating their infrastructure.
So what are you talking about? You are expecting the FBI in Lebanon? This is a joke.
Good point, maybe they shouldn't act like the FBI by spending millions on non-critical software when there are more pressing matters.
Why don't you go try being a police officer in this country with the budget and accessibility the government has before you talk?
No need to be aggressive. We strive to be a friendly community where critical thinking and structured argumentation are encouraged.
samer wroteWe both know how widespread corruption is in Lebanon. This amplifies the likelihood of misusing these tools. As rolf mentioned, I would rather see the military spend that money on educating and training their personnel as well as updating their infrastructure.
Good point, maybe they shouldn't act like the FBI by spending millions on non-critical software when there are more pressing matters.
I agree with the notion that the ISF could be spending that money more wisely, but that wasn't what was being discussed. I was pointing how fears of a big, scary police-state in Lebanon are ridiculous. In fact, you can argue that the opposite is true of this country. There isn't enough police presence!
No need to be aggressive. We strive to be a friendly community where critical thinking and structured argumentation are encouraged.
Wasn't being aggressive. Apologies if that was how I came off.
tt400 wroteLook at the statistics regarding the success rates of various famous departments like Interpol, the NYPD, or the GIGN. These are some of the most successful police departments in the entire world and even they cannot solve all crimes or apprehend all criminals on their watch.
The NYPD ? successful ? That's the most racist PD in the world, they don't even solve crimes, they just kill people. Just a bunch of thugs.
samer wrote
geekevo wroteFor some reason i seriously doubt the effectiveness of this Galileo software, the claims sound too good to be true.
I'm fairly sure that the dozens of governments around the world who spent millions of dollars on the software have done enough due diligence about its effectiveness. That doesn't mean you can't take measures to defend yourself.
Exactly, but then whats the point of the entire system if the people it is meant to be targeting can simply just protect themselves.
why would you buy hardware from hackers, its like asking to be hacked. For 1 million $USD I would have a competition for $3000 and hire the winner or a team for the rest of their life and the life of their children... Am getting more confident that this government is ran by monkeys that are pressing red buttons at random.