Former AK-47 Dealer Goes Cyber, Supplied Surveillance Tools to Honduras Government

[Judi Lynn]

Former AK-47 Dealer Goes Cyber, Supplied Surveillance Tools to Honduras Government
Lee Fang
July 27 2015, 1:24 p.m.

Ori Zoller made headlines over a decade ago selling thousands of AK-47s that eventually found their way into the hands of terrorists in Colombia.

Now, according to recently leaked documents, the former small arms dealer is working as cyber arms dealer, supplying the government of Honduras with powerful surveillance tools used to spy on computers and cell phones.

The revelations are contained in the internal files and emails from Hacking Team, an Italian company that has sold spyware to repressive regimes and law enforcement agencies around the world, including Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. The Hacking Team files were dumped on the web by an anonymous source.

Zoller, a former member of the Israeli special forces, acted as the middleman for Hacking Team to sell its surveillance equipment to the Honduran government, a relationship that was formalized in July 2014, according to Hacking Team records. The records show the Hondurans paid at least $355,000 for the software, which is used to seize control of a target’s computer or cell phone, with the ability to track an individual’s movements, log their keystrokes and even activate their computer camera.

More:
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/27/ak-47-arms-dealer-goes-cyber-supplied-surveillance-tools-honduras-government/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Information in the final paragraph most of us realized in 2009:

The ruling party of Honduras helped instigate the 2009 coup that overthrew democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya. Over the years, the regime and its supporters have been linked to the killings of attorneys, journalists, as well as LGBT and farmworker activists.

(Don't forget the fallen, wounded, tortured teachers, doctors who helped the poor, clergy, labor activists, leftist politicians, and mere relatives of progressive Honduran targets.)

[PeoViejo]

2. Don't forget that Hillary OK'd the Coup

..and it was all about raising the Minimum Wage.