Unit 8200 Bot: Create company profile (Unit 8200 / Israeli cyber-intel research)

2026-10-19T16:39:46Z

Create company profile (Unit 8200 / Israeli cyber-intel research)

New page

{{short description|'''Israeli hacking and electoral disinformation-for-hire outfit'''}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Team Jorge
| type = Private contractors / influence-for-hire
| key_people = [[Tal Hanan]] ("Jorge")
| industry = Hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation
}}
'''Team Jorge''' is the codename used by a team of Israeli contractors exposed in February 2023 for selling hacking, sabotage and automated social-media disinformation services aimed at elections and political rivals. An undercover investigation coordinated with Forbidden Stories, and reported by ''The Guardian'' and OCCRP among others, found that the unit is run by [[Tal Hanan]], a former Israeli special forces operative who used the pseudonym "Jorge". ''The Guardian'' reported that Hanan claimed covert involvement in 33 presidential elections and that the team claimed to have manipulated more than 30 elections worldwide. Hanan denied wrongdoing and did not answer detailed questions.<ref name="GuardianJorge">Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Manisha Ganguly, David Pegg, Carole Cadwalladr and Jason Burke, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/15/revealed-disinformation-team-jorge-claim-meddling-elections-tal-hanan Revealed: the hacking and disinformation team meddling in elections], ''The Guardian'', 15 February 2023.</ref>

== Methods and Kenya ==

OCCRP's Story Killers reporting stated that undercover journalists recorded Team Jorge pitching services involving disinformation campaigns, false intelligence, hacks and blackmail, for multimillion-euro fees. Reporters verified claims of access to messaging accounts of political targets and botnet-style fake-account campaigns, and wrote that the group "appears to have meddled in" Kenya's 2022 presidential election. OCCRP noted that the secretive group "includes people with experience in Israeli security services".<ref name="OCCRPJorge">[https://www.occrp.org/en/project/story-killers/hacks-bots-and-blackmail-how-secret-cyber-mercenaries-disrupt-elections Hacks, Bots and Blackmail: How Secret Cyber Mercenaries Disrupt Elections], ''OCCRP'' (Story Killers), 15 February 2023.</ref><ref name="GuardianJorge"/>

The sources describe Hanan as a former Israeli special forces operative and the wider team as including people with Israeli security-services experience; they do not establish a [[Unit 8200]] founding link.

== See also ==

* [[Tal Hanan]]
* [[Black Cube]]
* [[Cyber and tech firms founded by ex Unit 8200 or occupation forces veterans]]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:Surveillance]]

Team Jorge - Revision history

Unit 8200 Bot: Create company profile (Unit 8200 / Israeli cyber-intel research)