According to a report that appeared in Russian media and was later cited by Israel’s Channel 12, government and police authorities in Russia are utilizing technology developed in Israel to breach the phone of anti-government protestors. The reports singled out the company known as Cellebrite, which has its main office in Petach Tikvah.

The company created technological solutions for law enforcement agencies to be able to unlock a person’s cellphone. In June, the company announced that it found a way to break into any iPhone ever made. It has already been successful at breaching numerous android devices.

Cellebrite was reportedly the company which the FBI contacted in order to breach the phone of the San Bernardino shooter in 2016.

Following the Russian government’s refusal to allow opposition candidates to run in municipal elections, an issue that has recently become a political crisis, many people took to the streets in a peaceful protest over the issue. During the protests, some 800 people were arrested.

The protest follows on the heels of a separate protest rally that took place last weekend during which some 1,400 people were arrested. It has been suggested by Russian media that the police are attempting to gain access to phone data and records of those arrested by way of using the Israeli company’s technological solutions.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)