Israeli firms sold invasive surveillance tech to Indonesia: Report

At least four Israeli-linked firms have been selling invasive spyware and cyber-surveillance technology to Indonesia, a report by Amnesty International’s Security Lab has found.

The investigation, which is based on trade records, shipping data, and internet scans, uncovered links between official government bodies and agencies in Indonesia—a country without formal diplomatic ties with Israel.

The links between Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, and the Israeli firms—including NSO, Candiru, Wintego, and Intellexa—date back to at least 2017.

"Highly invasive spyware tools are designed to be covert and to leave minimal traces," Amnesty said in the report, adding there was little transparency about the targets of the systems.

"This built-in secrecy can make it exceedingly difficult to detect cases of unlawful misuse of these tools against civil society, and risks creating impunity-by-design for rights violations," Amnesty added.

The report found numerous spyware imports between 2017 and 2023 by Indonesian companies and state agencies, including the Indonesian National Police and the National Cyber and Crypto Agency.

Amnesty reported that the Indonesian police declined to respond to queries regarding the findings, while the National Cyber and Crypto Agency had not responded by the time of publication.

This is not the first time Indonesia has been linked to Israeli spyware, with reports in 2023 finding traces of NSO’s Pegasus spyware used in the country.

In 2022, Reuters reported that over a dozen senior Indonesian government officials and military personnel were targeted the year before with Israeli made spyware.

Amnesty’s report found that much of the spyware used required individuals to click to a link which then led them to a website.

The website imitated legitimate news outlets or political critical organisations.

The findings have raised concerns as Indonesia does not currently have laws that govern the lawful use of spyware or surveillance technologies and the civic space has "shrunk as a result of the ongoing assault on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association", Amnesty said.

Amnesty has urged Indonesia’s government to ban highly invasive spywares.