Gita Technologies

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Israeli signals-intelligence, interception and offensive-cyber research company founded in 2000; bought by Verint by 2016 and now a subsidiary of Cognyte

Gita Technologies

Trade name Gita Technologies Ltd.
Logo Gita Technologies logo.png
Gita Technologies logo
Type Private company; subsidiary
Founded 2000 (2001 according to one of its founders)
Founder(s) Lior Frenkel, Amir Zilberstein, Asher Baharav
Headquarters 10 Totzeret Haaretz Street, Tel Aviv 6744131
Industry Signals intelligence; interception; cyber security
Services Interception, location finding, cyber warfare, encryption and protocol reverse engineering for government agencies
Parent Cognyte (formerly part of Verint)
Number of employees 35 (IVC, undated)
Homepage gitatechnologies.com

Gita Technologies (Gita Technologies Ltd.) is an Israeli company based in Tel Aviv. It develops signals-intelligence (SIGINT), interception and cyber technology for government agencies. On its own website the company calls itself an "intelligence and cyber R&D boutique" and says its mission is to be a "worldwide leader in research and development of high-end security systems and SIGINT".[1] The website gives the address of its headquarters as "10 Totzeret Haaretz St. Tel Aviv Israel".[1] IVC gives the postcode as 6744131.[2] According to the Israeli business database IVC, it was founded in 2000 by Asher Baharav, Lior Frenkel and Amir Zilberstein, and was acquired by Verint.[2] Verint listed Gita Technologies Ltd. among its subsidiaries in March 2016.[3] It is now a subsidiary of Cognyte, the intelligence-analytics company that was split off from Verint.[4] Its co-founder Lior Frenkel later said that Gita "dealt with offensive cyber warfare".[5]

Founders and military service

IVC names Asher Baharav, Lior Frenkel and Amir Zilberstein as Gita's co-founders.[2] Frenkel and Zilberstein went on to found Waterfall Security Solutions, which IVC lists as a spin-off of Gita.[2] Zilberstein later co-founded the industrial cyber-security company Claroty.[6]

Asher Baharav (1952–2022), the founder of the computer group Taldor and later the founding publisher of the Adelson-owned daily Israel Hayom, served in Unit 8200. Israel Hayom said that he "began his service at Unit 8200, which is tasked with a variety of signal intelligence collection efforts", and left the army as a major.[7] Its Hebrew obituary said that he was among the founders of "גיטה בתחום הסייבר ההתקפי" (Gita, in offensive cyber) and of Waterfall, in defensive cyber.[8]

According to his biography on the website of the venture firm Team8, where he is a managing partner, Zilberstein "co-founded Gita Technologies and prior to that he managed a team of exceptional researchers and developers in an elite cyber unit of the Israeli Defense Force" (Israel Defense Forces).[6] A conference speaker biography says that he "managed a research and development department in an elite cybersecurity unit of the Israel Defense Force".[9] Claroty's launch announcement in 2016 said that "he managed a team of cybersecurity researchers and developers within the Israeli Defense Force (IDF)".[10]

Frenkel told Forbes in 2013 that he was "drafted at 18 into the Israeli Defense Force" and, after studying at Bar-Ilan University, "joined the IAF and built computers for fighter jets" (Israeli Air Force). He then worked in an air-force research and development unit that, he said, "was developing long-term projects intended to gather intelligence for the air force". He said: "In 2001, I started a company that did R&D for Israeli companies. By 2006, we had 30 people", and that he left in 2005 to work on the technology that became Waterfall.[11] A 2014 conference biography says that "In 2001 Lior Co-Founded Gita Technologies Ltd, a high-end security research and development company".[12] IVC gives the founding year as 2000.[2]

In 2020 Frenkel told the Israeli electronics news site Techtime that Waterfall's products drew on what he had learned at Gita, "which dealt with offensive cyber warfare". He said: "There was not a single event when we were unable to carry out an intrusion. It made me realize the great weakness of the industrial facilities."[5]

Products and customers

IVC describes Gita as working in "high-end security, Intelligence gathering, Analysis and production systems (SIGINT, COMINT and OSINT)". It lists the technical areas as "real-time interception, location finding, cyber warfare, military-grade encryption, ciphers and cryptography, analysis and reverse engineering of complex protocols", serving "government agencies and high-end enterprises worldwide".[2] The company's website lists three areas: off-the-air intelligence, where it says it develops "sophisticated production systems of complex protocols"; cyber, based on "core security research"; and cryptosystems "embedded with FIPS 140-2 level 4 anti tamper detection sensors". The site also carries the slogan "Vulnerabilities were made for us".[1]

A company profile published by Israel Defense before the Milipol security fair in 2015 said that Gita "is home to intelligence units, Homeland Security (HLS) organizations and related agencies seeking state-of-the-art technological capabilities".[13] At the ISS World Europe surveillance trade conference in June 2015, Gita gave two product presentations: "'Sniper' – The new mission-critical platform for uncompromised WiFi interception" and "'Horizon' – All-in-one tactical interception solution of Iridium, Thuraya and Isatphone", the last three being satellite-telephone networks.[14]

Atlantic Council report (2021)

In November 2021 the Atlantic Council published a study of surveillance and intrusion vendors that market their products at arms fairs and ISS World conferences. Its appendix of high- and medium-confidence companies lists "gita technologies" (Israel), described as "Tactical interception, intelligence gathering", with a high confidence level and a mark in the column headed "Irresponsible Proliferator".[15] The authors say they classed companies as "potentially irresponsible proliferators because of their willingness to market outside their continents to nonallied governments of the United States and NATO". They also say they "do not claim ... that all identified companies are, in fact, selling indiscriminately".[15]

Ownership

IVC lists Gita as "Acquired by Verint".[2] Sources differ on the date. A conference biography of Zilberstein says that Gita "was acquired by Verint Systems in 2015".[9] Verint's list of subsidiaries as of 1 March 2016, filed with its annual report for the year to 31 January 2016, includes Gita Technologies Ltd. (Israel).[3] The company appeared again on Verint's list the following year.[16] In its annual report for the year to 31 January 2026, Cognyte listed Gita Technologies Ltd. (Israel) as one of its subsidiaries.[4]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gita Technologies, Gita Technologies LTD Gita Technologies, accessed 10 November 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 IVC Research Center, Gita Technologies Ltd. IVC-Online, accessed 10 November 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Verint Systems Inc., Exhibit 21.1: Subsidiaries of Verint Systems Inc. (as of March 1, 2016) (exhibit to Form 10-K for the year ended 31 January 2016), US Securities and Exchange Commission, accessed 10 November 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cognyte Software Ltd., Exhibit 8.1: Subsidiaries of Cognyte Software Ltd. (exhibit to Form 20-F for the year ended 31 January 2026), US Securities and Exchange Commission, accessed 10 November 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Techtime, Cyber protection for Tel Aviv Wastewater Treatment Plant Techtime, 19 July 2020, accessed 10 November 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Team8, Amir Zilberstein Team8, accessed 10 November 2026.
  7. ↑ Assaf Golan, Israel Hayom's founding publisher Asher Baharav passes away Israel Hayom, 28 September 2022, accessed 10 November 2026.
  8. ↑ Assaf Golan, אשר בהרב, המו"ל המייסד של "ישראל היום", הלך לעולמו (Asher Baharav, the founding publisher of Israel Hayom, has died), Israel Hayom (Hebrew), 27 September 2022, accessed 10 November 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hazlis Economist, Amir Zilberstein Economist Conferences – Greece, accessed 10 November 2026.
  10. ↑ Claroty, Claroty Exits Stealth with $32 Million in Funding to Protect Industrial Networks Claroty (press release), 13 September 2016, accessed 10 November 2026.
  11. ↑ Peter Cohan, Waterfall Security Defends Power Plants From Hackers Forbes, 23 September 2013 (archived copy), accessed 10 November 2026.
  12. ↑ ICS Cyber Security Conference, Deploying Unidirectional Gateways to Secure Offshore Platforms 2014 ICS Cyber Security Conference, 22 October 2014, accessed 10 November 2026.
  13. ↑ Israel Defense, The Israeli Companies at Milopol: Gita Israel Defense, 22 February 2015, accessed 10 November 2026.
  14. ↑ TeleStrategies, ISS World Europe – Track 7 Agenda: Mobile Signal Intercept and Electronic Surveillance Training and Product Demonstrations ISS World Training, 3 June 2015, accessed 10 November 2026.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Winnona DeSombre, Lars Gjesvik and Johann Ole Willers, Surveillance Technology at the Fair: Proliferation of Cyber Capabilities in International Arms Markets Atlantic Council, November 2021, Appendix B, accessed 10 November 2026.
  16. ↑ Verint Systems Inc., Exhibit 21.1: Subsidiaries of Verint Systems Inc. (exhibit to Form 10-K for the year ended 31 January 2017), US Securities and Exchange Commission, accessed 10 November 2026.
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