As per documents examined by Reuters, Israel's Cognyte Software Ltd. won a tender to supply intercept spyware to a Myanmar state-backed telecoms company a month before the Asian country's February 2021 military coup.

Based on a court lawsuit recently submitted to Israel's attorney general and made public on Sunday, the agreement was struck despite Israel's claims that it halted transferring defence technology to Myanmar in response to a 2017 ruling by Israel's Supreme Court.

Israel's government has frequently said in public that defence exports to Myanmar are prohibited, despite the fact that the judgement was subject to an unusual gag order at the state's request and the media cannot quote the decision.

Eitay Mack, a well-known Israeli human rights attorney who led the effort to get the Supreme Court decision, filed the complaint, which demands that the arrangement be subjected to a criminal inquiry. It charges Cognyte with aiding and assisting human rights violations in Myanmar' together with anonymous defence and foreign ministry officials who oversee such sales.

A senior speaker of the house as well as well-known activists, academics, and writers were among the over 60 Israelis who signed the petition.

Cognyte is listed as the chosen vendor for intercept innovation in a letter from Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) to regulatory agencies dated January 2021. It also states that the acquisition order was issued 'by 30th Dec 2020.' The records about the deal were given to Reuters and Mack by the activist group Justice for Myanmar.

Also Read: Internal Records Illustrate How Close the FBI Was to Using Spyware

Without the help of telecom and internet companies, intercept spyware can provide investigators with the ability to listen in on calls, examine text messages and online traffic, even emails, and monitor the whereabouts of individuals.

Several attempts for comment from Reuters were not answered by Cognyte, the military administration of Myanmar, or MPT. KDDI Corp. and Sumitomo Corp., two Japanese companies with shares in MPT, refused to comment, claiming they lacked knowledge of the specifics of communication eavesdropping.

Inquiries about the complaint were not answered by Israel's attorney general. Requests for information about the agreement were unanswered from the foreign affairs and defence ministries, respectively.

The Cognyte technology was tested by MPT, according to two persons with knowledge of Myanmar's intercept preparations who spoke separately to Reuters. They wished to remain anonymous out of concern for the regime in Myanmar's punishment.

Also Read: Google says Android and Apple phones get hacked by Italian spyware

Despite naming the provider, a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation and three people who received briefings on the subject confirmed to Reuters that MPT deploys intercept spyware. Whether the Cognyte intercept technology sale to MPT was completed could not be ascertained by Reuters.

Well before the military invasion, public anxiety in Israel about its weapon exports to Myanmar had grown following a deadly military campaign on the nation's Rohingya population in 2017 while Aung San Suu Kyi's administration was in control. The crackdown served as the impetus for Mack's appeal asking the Supreme Court to impose a ban on the shipment of guns to Myanmar.

According to the UN, the junta has killed dozens of individuals since the coup, along with many political adversaries.

COGNYTE IS FRAGMENTING

Cybersecurity professionals have said that while many governments all around world permit what are known as 'lawful intercepts' to be utilized by agencies of law enforcement to apprehend criminals, the technology is usually not used without any sort of legal process.

Reuters has previously spoken with business leaders and activists who claim that the junta in Myanmar is violating human rights by using intrusive telecoms spyware without any legal protections.

Following the Supreme Court's ruling that no defence exports had been made to Myanmar, Mack claimed that Cognyte's participation in the tender was in contradiction to comments given by Israeli officials.

Israeli law specifies that 'dual-use' technology is categorised as supplies, despite the fact that intercept spyware is often referred to as 'dual-use' technology for both civilian and military use.

In accordance with Israeli law, businesses that export goods related to defence must apply for export and marketing licences before entering into agreements. According to the court lawsuit, all officials that gave Cognyte permits for deals in Myanmar should be looked into. Whether Cognyte got such permissions were unknown to Reuters.

The political climate in Myanmar was tight at the time of the 2020 agreement because the military was contesting Suu Kyi's victory in an election.

Norway's Telenor, which was once among the largest telecom companies in Myanmar before leaving the country last year, stated in a briefing and statement on December 3, 2020, that it was worried about the plans of the Myanmar government for a lawful intercept due to a lack of legal protections. Nasdaq-listed Verint Systems Inc., a leading titan in Israel's cybersecurity industry, spun off Cognyte in February 2021.

Facebook also barred Cognyte in 2021, which generated $474 million in revenue during its most recent fiscal year. Cognyte 'empowers maintaining phoney accounts throughout social media platforms,' according to research by Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc.

According to Meta, its analysis revealed Cognyte clients targeting journalists and politicians in a number of nations, including Kenya, Mexico, and Indonesia. It did not specify the aims or the clients. A plea for additional comment from Meta was ignored.

Cognyte was removed from Norway's sovereign wealth fund's portfolio last month after it was claimed that several of the countries using its surveillance products and services 'had been accused of particularly significant human rights breaches.' The fund didn't mention any specific states.

Cognyte has not officially reacted to either Meta's or Norway's sovereign wealth fund's allegations.