Unit "8200" is one of the most powerful branches of the Israeli intelligence agency, and its work extends throughout the world.
Given its capabilities and expertise through which it can feed various Israeli institutions with the necessary information after gathering it through hacks and espionage operations, most of them depend on cyber work, in which its workers are distinguished.
Due to the importance of the unit in Israel, the secrecy surrounding it greatly, until the identity of its employees was not announced until its commander. Pictures of the ceremony, which have been released.
Although most information about the unit and its operation is not permitted to be published;
However, over the years a number of details have been revealed about it, and about its graduates, who held the most desirable positions in the high-tech world in Israel;
Due to the practical experiences they enjoyed in this field during their service in that unit.
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Joining Unit 8200 is not easy. Arabs in Israel are prohibited from joining the army in general, and the cyber security units in particular. The Israeli intelligence community collects and updates information on a permanent basis on the distinct elements in the fields of technology from Israeli youth and girls in high school, and the auditing and selection stages for candidates to join the unit include annual and bi-annual tests in languages, science, programming, creative thinking and quick wit, in addition to physical tests . There is also a "Magh Shamim" program at Ben Gurion University, southern Israel, where distinguished young men and women can study for 3 years, which may qualify them to serve in Unit 8200.
Working in that unit is a dream for the occupation officers.
Because it is one of the elite units in the Intelligence Corps, and it gives its member a great position upon acceptance in one of its positions, as well as the innumerable external job opportunities that the service in it will provide.
Working in Unit 8200 is a dream for officers in Israel;
Because it is one of the elite units in the Intelligence Corps (communication sites)
Specialization tracks
The unit includes two specialization tracks, the first under the name of the "OFIC" track, which is taken by candidates with high capabilities and appropriate data. Those who want to pursue this specialization receive training before starting the military service, in addition to learning Arabic and Persian languages, which the unit shows a special interest in them among the languages Also, there is no requirement for prior knowledge of these languages, as the exercises include languages that the candidate may not have known before.
The second track is the "Matan" track, and this track deals with research and development of sources. The suitable candidates will be qualified for a position that combines technological work and intelligence work.
What do graduates of Unit "8200" do after their service ends?
Gilad Adin, the owner of a media company, the former CEO, editor-in-chief of the Israeli Channel 10 and the former commander of the unit, says that the reason for the graduates of the unit assuming these positions has clear reasons, which are that “the preference in the army is for Unit 8200 because it focuses on those who have high potential before joining the unit And also, people do not necessarily succeed by merely serving in Unit 8200, it is true that the individual gets tools in the field of high technology when he works in the unit; but some graduates of the unit become judges, academics, financiers and executives, since the age of 17 years the army determines their high capabilities, such as the ability to treat Data and decision-making quickly, so we understand why they have these opportunities. "
This is evidenced by what Avishai did to obtain the necessary data from the database of an "anti-Israel target", where the young recruiter penetrated the databases of two neighboring countries, and obtained from their devices the necessary processing power to penetrate the database of the target in question.
After that, Avishai ended his service in the unit to contribute to the establishment of the global company, Wix, which is interested in developing leading web platforms.
The unit raised many comments due to its role in electronic warfare (communication sites)
The name "Yair Cohen" might not arouse much curiosity;
However, the location of the name differs completely in cyber circles.
He is a former recruiter of Unit 8200, its leader from 2001-2005, and the current head of the informatics and cyber solutions division of Elbit Systems, one of the largest global Israeli companies in the field of defense and cyber security systems.
How does the "8200" use its capabilities for espionage?
A few years ago, the unit raised many comments because of its role in electronic warfare, and because of the great capabilities it possesses in the field of technology.
Israeli officials also made confessions stating that the unit’s work shifted from defense to offensive in the field of information technology, and the tools for espionage and recruitment varied.
Among them is the use of text messages to hack cell phones, which is used by intelligence services in developed countries.
Perhaps this is not new.
But when it comes to a specific Israeli company and its association with Unit "8200", where a private Israeli company, "NSO", whose founders served in the unit, was able to reveal a vulnerability in "iPhones", which have strong protection compared to other mobile phones, And developed a program to penetrate it remotely and use it as a spy tool.
Undoubtedly, there is a great relationship between the private companies that undertake software development operations in Israel and Unit 8200, especially since its directors are graduates of that unit, and this allows Israeli intelligence to use these capabilities for the benefit of Israel through the espionage operation that it carries out. The unit in which most of its employees speak Arabic and Persian.
This hypothesis confirms what was revealed by specialized institutes that the "NSO" company alone has targeted about 180 people with its spyware in just two years.
Aviva Letan, a researcher and analyst at the Gartner Research Center, explains what is happening, telling us that this boom in the cybersecurity industry in Israel “is attributed to entrepreneurs with military backgrounds who spent their service in elite Israeli units specializing in cybersecurity.” Then they brought their military expertise to the private sector.
Generation of communication platforms is the new goal of the unit
This development in the close relationship between the army and private sector companies in Israel is considered "unlimited", as there are no laws that set limits for recruits to what can be used, technically or skillfully, to protect Israeli cyber security.
Likewise, the Israeli attempt to occupy the West Bank and Gaza Strip provides what are like vast, free and safe testing grounds to test the technologies used or developed by Tel Aviv, which makes them almost optimally ready for internal use or for export to the world.
Going back to 2018, we find that, in keeping with the language of the times to maintain the level of online recruiting, the unit has recruited groups of high school students to work on social media networks;
To talk to the new generation with false and Arabic names most of the time, due to the targeting of the Arab public, in order to facilitate the task and leave no room for doubt about the target personality.
Regarding the unit's use of social media applications, one of the former leaders says, "It seems that the new era is a technological paradise for the unit. Everyone has a computer, everyone browses the Internet and sends emails, and everyone has a mobile phone, Facebook and WhatsApp, all of this results as not." Finally, the attacker needs only to develop tools and methods to collect and analyze this information. "