An Israeli spy company has revealed that it has been able to hack a communication application that is the most encrypted and secure, and which journalists commonly use to communicate with their sources.

The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" stated in a report that an Israeli spy technology company called Cellebrite said in a blog that its technology could penetrate the Signal application, an encrypted communication application for the Android and iOS operating systems. (iOS), and desktop versions of Windows, GNU / Linux, and Mac OS are available.

Celebright technology is intended for law enforcement and sold worldwide.

However, the company has long been criticized for selling its products to countries with poor human rights records, such as Indonesia, Venezuela and Belarus.

The company's technology was used by Chinese officials to spy in "Hong Kong", according to a statement by the company, which added that it "recently announced that it will not provide services to China or the Chinese police forces."

The newspaper reported that Celebright's main product is a system within a series of forensic products known as the Universal Forensic Extraction Device, which allows authorities to open and access data on any phone they have, along with another product that helps organize the data that is uploaded from Phone and address.

Last Thursday, it announced that this product has now been updated with a new capability developed by the company, which allows customers to decrypt information and data from the Signal app.

Owned by the Signal Technology Foundation, Signal uses a proprietary open source encryption system called the Signal Protocol, which was thought to be impossible for a third party to break into their conversations or access the data being shared. On the system, it uses what is called "end-to-end encryption" which is a highly secure encryption system.

Applications such as Facebook, Skype, and WhatsApp rely on the same encryption system to protect their users.

Celebright technology intended for law enforcement agencies and sold worldwide (networking sites)

Signal receives funding for its product from freedom of expression organizations and press watchdog agencies. Freedom of the Press provided initial funding to develop the app.

After its launch in 2018, the Signal Foundation mission statement was to "support, accelerate and expand Signal's mission of making private communications available everywhere."

According to the latest statistics, the Signal application was downloaded last May about a million times, and Reuters reported that downloads of the application increased dramatically in China and the United States, specifically during the Corona virus pandemic.

The Israeli company says that the encryption system guarantees capabilities such as image blurring to prevent police from reviewing the data, and that the technology it has developed is helping the authorities with law enforcement.

In an earlier version, it was removed from the blog, according to Haaretz. The company went so far as to say, “Decoding Signal's messages and attachments was not an easy task. It took extensive research on many different fronts to create new capabilities from the start.” Yet Silbright was able to find New ways to help those who are making our world a safer place, which we dedicate to do every day. "

The initial post, which was stored in the Internet Archive, included a detailed explanation of how Celebright "cracked the code" by reviewing the open-source Signal protocol and using it against it.

Celebright is not currently subject to independent oversight, as it conducts its own checks and maintains its own blacklist of countries to which selling technology is "prohibited", sources familiar with the company told Haaretz.

Silbright says it is developing technology that "helps law enforcement agencies collect digital evidence and speed up complex investigations in accordance with the law."

"Our technology serves 154 countries and has made possible conviction in more than 5 million cases of serious crimes, such as murder, rape, human trafficking, and pedophilia. We do not provide information about our clients and their activities. We provide our solutions to accredited agencies only, and we apply a set of tools that dictate the method." In addition, we work in accordance with a clear policy and acceptable international rules to prevent establishing a business relationship with agencies subject to international restrictions. ”