Terrogence
Israeli web-intelligence and counter-terrorism company in Netanya, co-founded by former Israeli intelligence officer Shai Arbel, which built a facial-recognition database from Facebook and YouTube images
| Terrogence
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  Terrogence logo |
| Type | Private company |
| Founder(s) | Shai Arbel (co-founder) |
| Headquarters | Netanya (according to The Times of Israel, 2018) |
| Industry | Web intelligence (WEBINT); open-source intelligence; counter-terrorism |
| Parent | Verint (from 2017, according to Forbes) |
| Homepage | terrogence.com |
Terrogence is an Israeli intelligence company, based in Netanya, that sells web-intelligence, open-source intelligence and counter-terrorism products to security agencies. It was co-founded by "former Israeli intelligence officer Shai Arbel", according to The Times of Israel (Shai Arbel; Intelligence Corps).[1] In 2018 Forbes reported that the company's Face-Int facial-recognition service was built from images and videos "harvested" from Facebook, YouTube and other online forums, and that the company had been bought in 2017 by the Israeli-founded surveillance company Verint.[1]
Founder and intelligence background
The Times of Israel, reporting the Forbes investigation, described Terrogence as "co-founded by former Israeli intelligence officer Shai Arbel".[1] A 2026 conference biography from the Cybertech group describes Arbel as "the Founder and CEO of Terrogence Global, with over 20 years of expertise in WEBINT, OSINT and Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)".[2] The sources do not say in which Israeli agency or unit Arbel served.
Face-Int and the Facebook controversy
According to The Times of Israel, Terrogence "openly admits" to harvesting data from Facebook, YouTube and other forums, and had marketed Face-Int for at least five years. It quoted the company's website as saying that "Terrogence actively monitors and collects online profiles and facial images of terrorists, criminals and other individuals believed to pose a threat to aviation security, immigration and national security", and that the Face-Int database "represents facial extractions from over 35,000 videos and photos retrieved online".[1]
A Facebook spokesperson told Forbes that Terrogence would be violating the platform's policies by taking its data for surveillance. Arbel declined to speak to Forbes. Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union told the magazine: "A lot of those problems could intensify if you have a bunch of private quasi-vigilantes making their own blacklists of all kinds."[1]
Ownership and customers
Forbes reported that Terrogence was bought in 2017 by Verint, and that both companies had provided technology to the National Security Agency, the US Navy and other security agencies. Public records showed two US Navy contracts with Terrogence, worth $148,000 in total, for subscriptions to its Mobius and TGAlertS counter-terrorism reports, though there was no evidence that American agencies had bought Face-Int.[1] The company's website now lists products including CODEX, IRIS, "Intelligence-As a Service", counter-terrorism expert reports and training, and gives a contact address at La Défense, Paris.[3]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Stuart Winer, Israeli intelligence company mining Facebook for counterterrorism data The Times of Israel, 24 April 2018, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ NexTech Warsaw, Shai Arbel NexTech Warsaw 2026, accessed 10 November 2026.
- ↑ Terrogence, Contact – Terrogence Terrogence, accessed 10 November 2026.