Toka (company)
Israeli offensive-cyber firm co-founded by Ehud Barak and former IDF cyber chief Yaron Rosen; sells camera-hacking tools to governments
| Toka
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founder(s) | Ehud Barak, Yaron Rosen, Alon Kantor, Kfir Waldman |
| Headquarters | Tel Aviv, Israel; Washington, DC, US |
| Area served | Selected government clients in the US and allied states (company policy) [1] |
| Services | Intrusion into internet-connected cameras and other devices; government cyber-capability services |
| Key people | Yaron Rosen (co-founder and president, reported 2018); Peter Schuck, Jacob Frenkel (external advisers identified December 2024) [1] |
| Remarks | Industry: Offensive cyber / IoT and camera intrusion; Backers include Andreessen Horowitz and Dell Capital [1] |
Toka is an Israeli cyber company, founded in 2018, that sells governments tools to locate, hack and control internet-connected cameras and other devices. It was co-founded by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Brig. Gen. (res.) Yaron Rosen, whom Haaretz described as "a former chief of the Israel Defense Forces cybersecurity staff".[2] It is backed by Andreessen Horowitz.[3]
Founders and funding
In July 2018 Haaretz reported that Toka had raised $12.5 million "just months after it was formed to provide cyberdefense to governments". Investors included Andreessen Horowitz, Entrée Capital, Dell's venture unit, Launch Capital and Ray Rothrock. The other founders were Alon Kantor, "a former vice president of business development for Check Point", and Kfir Waldman. Yaron Rosen, the company's president, said its "Cyber Designer Team will help nations develop the strategic capabilities, an operational approach, and an ecosystem of software products tailored for them".[2]
Camera hacking and footage alteration
In December 2022 Haaretz published an investigation by Omer Benjakob based on internal company documents. It described Toka as "the Israeli cyber firm founded by Ehud Barak, that lets clients hack cameras and change their feeds", and framed the story around the 2010 Dubai assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in which security-camera footage exposed a Mossad team.[4] TechCrunch later summarised the report as "detailing its claims about being able to obtain and even delete security camera footage", and added that Haaretz had reported Toka "was seeking to work with U.S. Special Forces and an unnamed U.S. intelligence agency".[3]
Government market
In December 2024 TechCrunch reported that Toka was recruiting a "Client Director USA" to "support new business growth within the US government market", a post requiring a "strong history of technology sales within DoD and national security agencies". Toka told the publication that it "only sells to militaries, homeland security organizations, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies in the United States and its closest allies". TechCrunch also reported that Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz had tried to donate funds to the Las Vegas police for the purchase of Toka software, which the police did not take up, and that Toka had raised $37.5 million. Toka said it had no clients in the UAE.[3]
Sales screening and external advisers
Toka told TechCrunch in December 2024 that it regularly reviewed a selected list of eligible countries using outside assessments of civil liberties, the rule of law and corruption. It identified Peter Schuck of Yale Law School and Jacob Frenkel as outside advisers assisting that process. These were company statements about its policy, not an independent evaluation of every deployment.[1]
| Name | Role | Dated source |
|---|---|---|
| Ehud Barak | Co-founder | July 2018 [2] |
| Yaron Rosen | Co-founder and president | July 2018 [2] |
| Alon Kantor | Co-founder | July 2018 [2] |
| Kfir Waldman | Co-founder | July 2018 [2] |
| Peter Schuck; Jacob Frenkel | External advisers on eligible countries, according to Toka | December 2024 [1] |
The same report said that the company's appearance at a UAE conference was not evidence of a customer there: Toka explicitly said that it had no UAE clients. Its reported camera-access capabilities should also be distinguished from a demonstrated use in any particular military operation; the report did not establish that Toka supplied the attacks on cameras discussed as regional context.[1]
See also
- Ehud Barak
- NSO Group
- Paragon Solutions
- Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Charles Rollet, a16z-backed Toka wants to help US agencies hack into security cameras and other IoT devices, TechCrunch, 6 December 2024, accessed 8 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Haaretz, Startup cofounded by Ehud Barak raises $12.5 million for cybersecurity, Haaretz, 16 July 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 TechCrunch, a16z-backed Toka wants to help US agencies hack into security cameras and other IoT devices, TechCrunch, 6 December 2024.
- ↑ Omer Benjakob, This ‘Dystopian’ Cyber Firm Could Have Saved Mossad Assassins From Exposure, Haaretz, 26 December 2022.