Unit 8200
Unit 8200 is the signal intelligence and code deciphering arm of the Israel Defence Forces. It is the largest unit in the IDF and is headquartered at at Camp Glilot, north of Tel Aviv.[1]
In 2004 a Knesset committee recommended turning the unit into an autonomous entity separate from the Defense Ministry, along the lines of its US equivalent, the National Security Agency.[2]
Tech sector alumni
A Forbes article by Former Unit 8200 member Gil Kerbs, stated that "Israel's high-tech world is "flooded" with Unit alumni, as entrepreneurs and company founders or junior and senior executives.":
- "Take Nice, Comverse and Check Point for example, three of the largest high-tech companies, which were all directly influenced by 8200 technology," says [former Unit 8200 commander Hanan] Gefen. "Check Point was founded by Unit alumni. Comverse's main product, the Logger, is based on the Unit's technology. Look at Metacafe, one of the hottest companies today. Eyal Herzog, one of the founders, is also an 8200 alumnus and he accumulated a huge amount of relevant experience in the Unit."[3]
Author James Bamford and former CIA officer Philip Giraldi have suggested that the role if Unit 8200 veterans in the telecommunications industry is a threat to US national security.[4]
People
Commanders
External Resources
- Tobias Buck, Israel's army of tech start-ups, FT.com, 30 November 2011, archived at Israeli Occupation Archive.
Notes
- ↑ Amos Harel, Mystery surrounds suicide of officer from elite intel unit, Haaretz, 5 June 2009.
- ↑ Amos Harel, Mystery surrounds suicide of officer from elite intel unit, Haaretz, 5 June 2009.
- ↑ Gil Kerbs, The Unit, Forbes, 8 February 2007.
- ↑ Christopher Ketcham, Full-Spectrum Penetration: Israeli Spying in the United States, 12 March 2009.
