{"id":263376,"date":"2024-06-03T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=263376"},"modified":"2024-05-31T05:58:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T04:58:26","slug":"after-pegasus-was-blacklisted-its-ceo-swore-off-spyware-now-hes-the-king-of-israeli-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/06\/after-pegasus-was-blacklisted-its-ceo-swore-off-spyware-now-hes-the-king-of-israeli-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"After Pegasus Was Blacklisted, Its CEO Swore Off Spyware – Now He\u2019s the King of Israeli AI"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Illustration: Fei Liu\/The Intercept – Photo: Ammar Awad\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

Shalev Hulio is remaking his image but is still involved in a web of cybersecurity ventures with his old colleagues from NSO Group.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

23 May 2024 <\/em>– Shalev Hulio, once dubbed \u201cIsrael\u2019s cyber bad boy,\u201d has been working hard to remake himself. By all appearances, it\u2019s been a big success.<\/p>\n

Things were looking dicey a few years ago when his company, the Israeli firm NSO Group, rose to infamy. Its Pegasus spyware had been exposed as enabling human rights abuses<\/a>. Eventually, NSO was blacklisted by the U.S. government, and in August 2022, Hulio resigned as CEO.<\/p>\n

In the last two years, however, Hulio has become involved in a web of new cybersecurity ventures.<\/strong> He is back, it seems, and better than ever.<\/p>\n

In November, in a video filmed at the Gaza Strip, Hulio announced his new startup, Dream Security<\/a>, an AI firm focused on defending critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n

In April, according to Israel\u2019s largest newspaper, a co-founder of IntelEye \u2014 a company that monitors the \u201cdark web\u201d \u2014 identified his former NSO colleague Hulio as an investor. (Another IntelEye official later told The Intercept that Hulio isn\u2019t a shareholder but refused to clarify further.)<\/p>\n

Taking the helm of The Institute is the most recent step in Hulio\u2019s makeover from being a public villain to becoming a cyberhero.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, Hulio is moving his cybersecurity entrepreneurism into a new arena: the academy. This month, he announced<\/a> the founding of \u201cThe Institute,\u201d a new initiative at Israel\u2019s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev that aims to become an Israeli hub for training and research on artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Hulio has described his post-NSO career as a move away from \u201coffensive\u201d cybersecurity work. When he launched Dream, Hulio told<\/a> the press, \u201cWe decided to leave the intelligence side, offensive side if you want, and move to the defensive side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking the helm of The Institute is the most recent step in Hulio\u2019s makeover from being a public villain to becoming a cyberhero, leading a nation\u2019s technological education. At The Institute\u2019s highly publicized launch he shared a stage with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.<\/p>\n

The companies Hulio has been involved in \u2014 founded, led, launched, or reportedly invested in \u2014\u00a0feature the same rotating cast of characters. And from NSO to Dream to IntelEye, there are different, sometimes intersecting missions, but one thing is constant: All three support the Israeli government in its war effort.<\/p>\n

Hulio had bragged<\/a> in November that NSO\u2019s Pegasus software was used to track down Israeli hostages, confirming an October report<\/a>. Meanwhile, Hulio announced Dream\u2019s founding<\/a> one month after Hamas\u2019s attack on the Gaza border to show Israel\u2019s resilience and help the government.<\/p>\n

IntelEye is involved in direct, offensive intelligence work. At the request of the Israeli government, the company reportedly uncovered information identifying a pair of Palestinian brothers and shutting down Hamas propaganda \u2014 leading to the killing of one brother and a police raid on the other.<\/p>\n

Exactly what resulted from IntelEye\u2019s work, however, is the subject of conflicting accounts. This much is obvious: The company is in the high-stakes cybersurveillance business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to monitor and search for terrorist elements that could threaten the State of Israel,\u201d NSO veteran and IntelEye co-founder Ziv Haba told Israel Hayom after his company found the Palestinian brothers. \u201cThe surveillance is extremely close, closer than you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Institute\u201d<\/h2>\n

The launch of The Institute at Ben-Gurion University was itself marked by confusion. An article in the Jerusalem Post<\/a> announcing the initiative described it as a partnership<\/a> with the Israel Defense Forces\u2019 elite cyberspying unit, known as 8200. NSO\u2019s founders \u2014 including Hulio \u2014 and many of its employees are veterans of 8200.<\/p>\n

Days after the initial article ran, however, all of its references to 8200 were scrubbed without any notice.<\/p>\n

An IDF spokesperson told The Intercept, \u201cThe IDF in general and Unit 8200 in particular do not take part in the aforementioned program.\u201d (Shmuel Dovrat, a spokesperson for Ben-Gurion University, said The Institute had not been in touch with the Jerusalem Post after the initial publication, but said, \u201cI\u2019m glad that they changed it because of the wrong information.\u201d)<\/p>\n

According to a press release, The Institute will bring together AI luminaries and run training programs and research, with Hulio and other Dream employees among its leaders. In the coming year, The Institute\u2019s research laboratories will strengthen Israel\u2019s hand in the tech world by collaborating with actors across the industry, according to a report<\/a> in a U.K. tech news site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough hard work born out of love and commitment to the state of Israel, we have built a team of the best entrepreneurs, investors and leading companies in the world to help Israel become a global leader in artificial intelligence,\u201d journalist Sivan Cohen Saban, The Institute\u2019s CEO, said at the launch event on May 8.<\/p>\n

On hand at the launch, according to coverage, were officials from global firms like Microsoft and General Motors, as well as top-tier Israeli politicians, like Herzog, the president. (A spokesperson for GM told The Intercept they could not confirm the company\u2019s attendance.)<\/p>\n

Herzog said The Institute would help fight Israel\u2019s isolation amid the Gaza war. \u201cHistory is being made here today,\u201d he said<\/a> at the launch, in remarks later posted to YouTube in a promotional video. \u201cThere are countries that want to sever a relationship with us and only because of you, they don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n