1000 Recent Intel processors contain a Spy Engine

Recent Intel processors contain a Spy Engine

Newsletter published (again) on April 7, 2019

I sent this newsletter out about a year ago; but it's worth repeating.

I do my main work, including this newsletter, on a 2002 Apple Mac G4,
running Mac OS 9, with Javascript turned off. Big Brother finds it hard
to hack; but they used to hack it when Javascript was on.

Mac OS 9, being incompatible with Intel computers, is the safest OS you
can use. Next safe are middle-aged computers, such as Intel core i-5
Sandy Bridge (eg 2011 iMac).

My Intel Macs are 9-10 years old. More recent computers are designed to
allow access to intelligence agencies, as Edward Snowden warned.

Forget about speed. Who wants a computer that runs at lightning speed,
if it's compromised?

Don't bother to encrypt your data; you're only fooling yourself.

Remember to back up your computer to external drives. Then disconnect
them from power & ethernet - Peter M.

(1) 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors DESIGNED and MADE IN ISRAEL
(2) Intel 7th generation processors, developed and designed in Israel
(3) The creator of Minix warns that Intel may use it in a George Orwell
1984 device
(4) Intel ATM can operate a computer remotely; even when computer is
sleeping
(5) Are (Intel) chipsets spying on us?
(6) Intel vPro processors allow remote access even when computer is
turned off - Infowars
(7) Secret 3G Intel Chip provides Backdoors
(8) How do we remain in charge of our own data? Are there ways to escape
the digital dystopia?
(9) Snowden: The NSA planted backdoors in Cisco products
(10) Dell may let you disable the Intel vPro Management Engine (ME)
(11) Mossad offers seed money to I.T. Startups to develop technology for
Spying
(12) Mossad to put out another call for applications to develop
cutting-edge technology

(1) 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors DESIGNED and MADE IN ISRAEL

From: dmdeedee <dmdeedee@yahoo.com>

Peter, I do hope you realize that the Intel Processor chips are made and
designed in Israel.

Diane

(2) Intel 7th generation processors, developed and designed in Israel

https://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Intel-launches-next-gen-processors-developed-and-designed-in-Israel-477358

Intel launches next-gen processors, developed and designed in Israel

The 7th generation processors provide record-breaking performance rates
and are the fastest, strongest processors available to the general
public, as well as being energy-saving.

By Michael Zeff

January 3, 2017 19:01

Intel announced on Tuesday the official launch of its full line of
advanced seventh generation computer processors.

According to Intel’s Israel division, the majority of development and
design for the new high-performance processors came from the company’s
Haifa development center.

"Today, many of Intel’s core products are being developed through Intel
Israel’s development branch, specifically the sixth generation
processors that were announced last year and the seventh generation that
was just announced today," Ran Sanderovitz, vice president and general
manager of Intel Israel’s development centers, told The Jerusalem Post
on Tuesday.

According to Sanderovitz, employees at the center in Haifa, and in Yakum
north of Tel Aviv, are behind many of the improvements to the 7th
generation processors, with support from the firm’s communications
platforms in Petah Tikva and Jerusalem.

"Of course, we work collaboratively with other international teams.
Nothing you do is 100% local, but I would say that the majority of the
design and the innovation – the big core improvements in physical
design, architecture, built-in hardware security and device connectivity
– were driven from our development center here," he said.

"The ability to improve the existing performance rates of the processors
was a very innovative task and was driven from Israel and done by the
Intel Israel team. This is one of the best, if not the best, processor
team in the world today.

I think it’s a result of chutzpah and the audacity to dare stretch the
limits of capability. This is also what makes companies like Intel
invest in Israel," Sanderovitz said.

According to Intel’s announcement, the new processors provide
record-breaking performance rates and are the fastest, strongest
processors available today for the general public, as well as being
energy-saving.

"Every year our team manages to add more and more performance power to
the processors. Every year we manage to improve computing power by an
average of 10%. With this line, our Israel team broke the world record
once more, by 12%," said Sanderovitz.

Intel’s first batch of seventh generation processors already hit the
markets in August 2016, with a line focused more on low-power,
lightweight and portable devices better suited for private individual
use. Tuesday’s announcement brings the full range of processors to
consumers who are professionals who use the Intel-powered devices for
work or art, and for enterprises which also require non-portable devices.

"Now our full portfolio of products is out there. With this launch we
are addressing the high-performance needs of the enterprise market
segment and those who have more specialized needs from their machines,"
Sanderovitz said.

The new processors are also a boon for gamers and the gaming industry,
he said, as well as for anyone who deals with virtual reality, as they
were specifically designed with the gamers and the VR sector in mind.

"The Israel team is very much in tune with the public, and is inspired
to excel by consumer needs."

Hours before Intel officially announced the launch, Japan’s Toshiba
Corporation announced that, as of this month, nine of Toshiba’s computer
models will be updated with the new processors. Chinese computer
manufacturer Lenovo made a similar announcement in December.

"This is probably the crown jewel of Israeli high-tech. Very few
products that are designed in Israel generate so much value by consumers
worldwide, considering how many people are getting devices with an Intel
processor," Sanderovitz said.

(3) The creator of Minix warns that Intel may use it in a George Orwell
1984 device

https://www.cs.vu.nl/~ast/intel/

An Open Letter to Intel

Dear Mr. Krzanich,

Thanks for putting a version of MINIX inside the ME-11 management engine
chip used on almost all recent desktop and laptop computers in the
world. I guess that makes MINIX the most widely used computer operating
system in the world, even more than Windows, Linux, or MacOS. And I
didn't even know until I read a press report about it. Also here and
here and here and here and here (in Dutch), and a bunch of other places.

I knew that Intel had some potential interest in MINIX several years ago
when one of your engineering teams contacted me about some secret
internal project and asked a large number of technical questions about
MINIX, which I was happy to answer. I got another clue when your
engineers began asking me to make a number of changes to MINIX, for
example, making the memory footprint smaller and adding #ifdefs around
pieces of code so they could be statically disabled by setting flags in
the main configuration file. This made it possible to reduce the memory
footprint even more by selectively disabling a number of features not
always needed, such as floating point support. This made the system,
which was already very modular since nearly all of the OS runs as a
collection of separate processes (normally in user mode), all of which
can be included or excluded in a build, as needed, even more modular.

Also a hint was the discussion about the license. I (implicitly)
gathered that the fact that MINIX uses the Berkeley license was very
important. I have run across this before, when companies have told me
that they hate the GPL because they are not keen on spending a lot of
time, energy, and money modifying some piece of code, only to be
required to give it to their competitors for free. These discussions
were why we put MINIX out under the Berkeley license in 2000 (after
prying it loose from my publisher).

After that intitial burst of activity, there was radio silence for a
couple of years, until I read in the media (see above) that a modified
version of MINIX was running on most x86 computers, deep inside one of
the Intel chips. This was a complete surprise. I don't mind, of course,
and was not expecting any kind of payment since that is not required.
There isn't even any suggestion in the license that it would be appreciated.

The only thing that would have been nice is that after the project had
been finished and the chip deployed, that someone from Intel would have
told me, just as a courtesy, that MINIX was now probably the most widely
used operating system in the world on x86 computers. That certainly
wasn't required in any way, but I think it would have been polite to
give me a heads up, that's all.

If nothing else, this bit of news reaffirms my view that the Berkeley
license provides the maximum amount of freedom to potential users. If
they want to publicize what they have done, fine. By all means, do so.
If there are good reasons not to release the modfied code, that's fine
with me, too.

Yours truly,

Andrew S. Tanenbaum

Note added later: Some people have pointed out online that if MINIX had
a GPL license, Intel might not have used it since then it would have had
to publish the modifications to the code. Maybe yes, maybe no, but the
modifications were no doubt technical issues involving which mode
processes run in, etc. My understanding, however, is that the small size
and modular microkernel structure were the primary attractions. Many
people (including me) don't like the idea of an all-powerful management
engine in there at all (since it is a possible security hole and a
dangerous idea in the first place), but that is Intel's business
decision and a separate issue from the code it runs. A company as big as
Intel could obviously write its own OS if it had to. My point is that
big companies with lots of resources and expertise sometimes use
microkernels, especially in embedded systems. The L4 microkernel has
been running inside smartphone chips for years. I certainly hope Intel
did thorough security hardening and testing before deploying the chip,
since apparently an older version of MINIX was used. Older versions were
primarily for education and newer ones were for high availability.
Military-grade security was never a goal.

Second note added later: The online discussion got completely
sidetracked from my original points as noted above. For the record, I
would like to state that when Intel contacted me, they didn't say what
they were working on. Companies rarely talk about future products
without NDAs. I figured it was a new Ethernet chip or graphics chip or
something like that. If I had suspected they might be building a spy
engine, I certainly wouldn't have cooperated, even though all they
wanted was reducing the memory footprint (= chip area for them). I think
creating George Orwell's 1984 is an extremely bad idea, even if Orwell
was off by about 30 years. People should have complete control over
their own computers, not Intel and not the government. In the U.S. the
Fourth Amendment makes it very clear that the government is forbidden
from searching anyone's property without a search warrant. Many other
countries have privacy laws that are in the same spirit. Putting a
possible spy in every computer is a terrible development.

(4) Intel ATM can operate a computer remotely; even when computer is
sleeping
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology

Intel Active Management Technology

A part of the Intel AMT web management interface, accessible even when
the computer is sleeping

Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) is hardware and firmware
technology for remote out-of-band management of personal
computers,[1][2][3][4][5] in order to monitor, maintain, update,
upgrade, and repair them.[1] Out-of-band (OOB) or hardware-based
management is different from software-based (or in-band) management and
software management agents.[1][2]

Hardware-based management works at a different level from software
applications, and uses a communication channel (through the TCP/IP
stack) that is different from software-based communication (which is
through the software stack in the operating system). Hardware-based
management does not depend on the presence of an OS or locally installed
management agent. Hardware-based management has been available on
Intel/AMD based computers in the past, but it has largely been limited
to auto-configuration using DHCP or BOOTP for dynamic IP address
allocation and diskless workstations, as well as wake-on-LAN (WOL) for
remotely powering on systems.[6] AMT is not intended to be used by
itself; it is intended to be used with a software management
application.[1] It gives a management application (and thus, the system
administrator who uses it) access to the PC down the wire, in order to
remotely do tasks that are difficult or sometimes impossible when
working on a PC that does not have remote functionalities built into
it.[1][3][7]

AMT is designed into a secondary (service) processor located on the
motherboard,[8] and uses TLS-secured communication and strong encryption
to provide additional security.[2] AMT is built into PCs with Intel vPro
technology and is based on the Intel Management Engine (ME).[2] AMT has
moved towards increasing support for DMTF Desktop and mobile
Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) standards and AMT Release 5.1
and later releases are an implementation of DASH version 1.0/1.1
standards for out-of-band management.[9] AMT provides similar
functionality to IPMI, although AMT is designed for client computing
systems as compared with the typically server-based IPMI.

Currently, AMT is available in desktops, servers, ultrabooks, tablets,
and laptops with Intel Core vPro processor family, including Intel Core
i5, i7, and Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 product family.[...]

Intel AMT includes hardware-based remote management, security, power
management, and remote configuration features that enable independent
remote access to AMT-enabled PCs.[1][7][19] Intel AMT is security and
management technology that is built into PCs with Intel vPro
technology.[1][6] PCs with Intel vPro include many other[clarification
needed] "platform" (general PC) technologies and features.[citation needed]

Intel AMT uses a hardware-based out-of-band (OOB) communication
channel[1] that operates regardless of the presence of a working
operating system. The communication channel is independent of the PC's
power state, the presence of a management agent, and the state of many
hardware components such as hard disk drives and memory.

Most AMT features are available OOB, regardless of PC power state.[1]
Other features require the PC to be powered up (such as console
redirection via serial over LAN (SOL), agent presence checking, and
network traffic filtering).[1] Intel AMT has remote power-up capability.

Hardware-based features can be combined with scripting to automate
maintenance and service.[1]

Hardware-based AMT features on laptop and desktop PCs include:

Encrypted, remote communication channel for network traffic between the
IT console and Intel AMT.[1][2] Ability for a wired PC (physically
connected to the network) outside the company's firewall on an open LAN
to establish a secure communication tunnel (via AMT) back to the IT
console.[1][2] Examples of an open LAN include a wired laptop at home or
at an SMB site that does not have a proxy server. [...]

Laptops with AMT also include wireless technologies:

Software updates provide upgrades to the next minor version of Intel
AMT. New major releases of Intel AMT are built into a new chipset, and
are updated through new hardware.[2]

Applications

Almost all AMT features are available even if the PC is in a powered-off
state but with its power cord attached, if the operating system has
crashed, if the software agent is missing, or if hardware (such as a
hard drive or memory) has failed. ...

Intel AMT supports these management tasks:

Remotely power up, power down, power cycle, and power reset the
computer.[1] Remote boot the PC by remotely redirecting the PC's boot
process, causing it to boot from a different image, such as a network
share, bootable CD-ROM or DVD, remediation drive, or other boot
device.[1][7] This feature supports remote booting a PC that has a
corrupted or missing OS. ...

This page was last edited on 26 May 2018, at 19:42.

(5) Are (Intel) chipsets spying on us?

https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/171478/are-intel-chipsets-spying-on-us

Are (Intel) chipsets spying on us?

I had a conversation yesterday where someone claimed that I should only
use (Intel) computers from before 2006. This was allegedly because after
this, software has been embedded in the chipsets that have the ability
to "phone home" or let them "phone in" in various ways. The exact
details of how and what were not elaborated further.

This sounded a bit like runaway paranoia, but stories about things like
secret 3g chips that can switch off your computer remotely don't seem
like total science-fiction to me, and are deeply worrying. ...

Recently (October 2017) Purism published a guide on what's involved in
the IME and information on how to disable it. That article had a link to
this page which has more details on how IME can be disabled. ...

(6) Intel vPro processors allow remote access even when computer is
turned off - Infowars

http://www.infowars.com/91497

"SECRET" 3G INTEL CHIP GIVES SNOOPS BACKDOOR PC ACCESS

SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

vPro processors allow remote access even when computer is turned off

Paul Joseph Watson

September 26, 2013

Intel Core vPro processors contain a "secret" 3G chip that allows remote
disabling and backdoor access to any computer even when it is turned off.

Although the technology has actually been around for a while, the
attendant privacy concerns are only just being aired. The "secret" 3G
chip that Intel added to its processors in 2011 caused little
consternation until the NSA spying issue exploded earlier this year as a
result of Edward Snowden’s revelations.

In a promotional video for the technology, Intel brags that the chips
actually offer enhanced security because they don’t require computers to
be "powered on" and allow problems to be fixed remotely. The promo also
highlights the ability for an administrator to shut down PCs remotely
"even if the PC is not connected to the network," as well as the ability
to bypass hard drive encryption.

"Intel actually embedded the 3G radio chip in order to enable its Anti
Theft 3.0 technology. And since that technology is found on every Core
i3/i5/i7 CPU after Sandy Bridge, that means a lot of CPUs, not just new
vPro, might have a secret 3G connection nobody knew about until
now,"reports Softpedia.

Jeff Marek, director of business client engineering for Intel,
acknowledged that the company’s Sandy Bridge" microprocessor, which was
released in 2011, had "the ability to remotely kill and restore a lost
or stolen PC via 3G."

"Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded
within the main processor which has it’s own operating system embedded
on the chip itself," writes Jim Stone. "As long as the power supply is
available and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro
processor, which runs on the system’s phantom power and is able to
quietly turn individual hardware components on and access anything on them."

Although the technology is being promoted as a convenient way for IT
experts to troubleshoot PC issues remotely, it also allows hackers or
NSA snoops to view the entire contents of somebody’s hard drive, even
when the power is off and the computer is not connected to a wi-fi network.

It also allows third parties to remotely disable any computer via the
"secret" 3G chip that is built into Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors.
Webcams could also be remotely accessed.

"This combination of hardware from Intel enables vPro access ports which
operate independently of normal user operations," reports TG Daily.
"These include out-of-band communications (communications that exist
outside of the scope of anything the machine might be doing through an
OS or hypervisor), monitoring and altering of incoming and outgoing
network traffic. In short, it operates covertly and snoops and
potentially manipulates data."

Not only does this represent a privacy nightmare, it also dramatically
increases the risk of industrial espionage.

The ability for third parties to have remote 3G access to PCs would also
allow unwanted content to be placed on somebody’s hard drive, making it
easier for intelligence agencies and corrupt law enforcement bodies to
frame people.

"The bottom line? The Core vPro processor is the end of any pretend
privacy," writes Stone. "If you think encryption, Norton, or anything
else is going to ensure your privacy, including never hooking up to the
web at all, think again. There is now more than just a ghost in the
machine."  ***

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison
Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a
host for Infowars Nightly News.

(7) Secret 3G Intel Chip provides Backdoors

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/secret-3g-intel-chip-provides-backdoors.353866/

Secret 3G Intel Chip provides Backdoors

Discussion in 'privacy general' started by CloneRanger, Sep 26, 2013.

"Secret" 3G Intel Chip Gives Snoops Backdoor PC Access

Intel Core vPro processors contain a "secret" 3G chip that allows remote
disabling and backdoor access to any computer even when it is turned off.

The promo also highlights the ability for an administrator to shut down
PCs remotely "even if the PC is not connected to the network," as well
as the ability to bypass hard drive encryption.

"Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded
within the main processor which has it’s own operating system embedded
on the chip itself," writes Jim Stone. "As long as the power supply is
available and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro
processor, which runs on the system’s phantom power and is able to
quietly turn individual hardware components on and access anything on
them." [...]

"The bottom line? The Core vPro processor is the end of any pretend
privacy," writes Stone. "If you think encryption, Norton, or anything
else is going to ensure your privacy, including never hooking up to the
web at all, think again. There is now more than just a ghost in the
machine." ...

(8) How do we remain in charge of our own data? Are there ways to escape
the digital dystopia?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycd9Xgrjz8U

Published on 4 Jun 2017

How do we remain in charge of our own data? Are there ways to escape the
digital dystopia, where your data tells everything about you? We live in
the world after Edward Snowden. The communication of citizens and
consumers is widely intercepted and monitored. Your data is being
monitored and analyzed, and now even sold. We seem to be trapped in a
global digital web, created by governments and Silicon Valley.

We thought the digital revolution would make us the world of
communication. But now we are caught in a global digital web. Your
smartphone, your bonus card, your modem, your DigiD, your medical
patient file, your search request, your Facebook account, your heating
thermostat, your text messages. At each headline, it just seems to be
closing on you. The patch on our webcam illustrates: The Big Brothers
and Little Sisters are getting closer.

Backlight looks behind the madness of the day and asks the question: how
do we remain in charge of our own data? Are there ways to escape the
digital dystopia?

(9) Snowden: The NSA planted backdoors in Cisco products

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8meX2l7CjtA

Edward Snowden open source ethics, cloud computing, and what’s at stake

https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608141/internet-privacy/snowden--the-nsa-planted-backdoors-in-cisco-products.html

TECH'S BOTTOM LINE

By Bill Snyder, InfoWorld | MAY 15, 2014

Snowden: The NSA planted backdoors in Cisco products

'No Place to Hide,' the new book by Glenn Greenwald, says the NSA
eavesdrops on 20 billion communications a day -- and planted bugs in
Cisco equipment headed overseas

If you worked in IT sales, can you image how difficult your life would
be if your foreign customers assumed that the hardware you sold them had
backdoors to let the U.S. government spy on them at will?

That's not a hypothetical question.

Incredible as it seems, routers built for export by Cisco (and probably
other companies) are routinely intercepted without Cisco's knowledge by
the National Security Agency and equipped with hidden surveillance
tools. We know this because it's one of the new details of the spy
agency's vast data gathering programs revealed in "No Place to Hide," a
just-published book by Glenn Greenwald. Greenwald, of course, is the
journalist who broke the story of Edward Snowden, the one-time NSA
employee who has leaked thousands of secret documents.

We learn that the scale of the NSA's data gathering operations was much,
much larger than we could have imagined: "As of mid-2012, the agency was
processing more than twenty billion communications events (both Internet
and telephone) from around the world each day," Greenwald writes.

Greenwald reveals that a program called X-KEYSCORE allows "real-time"
monitoring of a person's online activities, enabling the NSA to observe
emails and browsing activities as they happen, down to the keystroke.
The searches enabled by the program are so specific that any NSA analyst
is able not only to find out which websites a person has visited, but
also to assemble a comprehensive list of all visits to a particular
website from specific computers.

You would think that an analyst wanting to monitor someone's online
activities so closely would need, at the very least, authorization from
a high-level agency executive. Not so. All the analyst needs to do is
fill out an online form "justifying" the surveillance and the system
returns the information requested.

(10) Dell may let you disable the Intel vPro Management Engine (ME)

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/260219-dell-sells-pcs-without-intel-management-engine-tradeoffs

Dell has offered a configuration option to disable the Intel vPro
Management Engine (ME) on select commercial client platforms for a
number of years (termed Intel vPro – ME inoperable, custom order on
Dell.com). Some of our commercial customers have requested such an
option from us, and in response, we have provided the service of
disabling the Management Engine in the factory to meet their specific
needs. As this SKU can also disable other system functionality it was
not previously made available to the general public.

Recently, this option was inadvertently offered online as a
configuration option for a couple of systems on Dell.com. Customers
interested in purchasing this SKU should contact their sales
representative as it is intended to be offered as a custom option for a
select number of customers who specifically require this configuration.

We followed up with Dell with some additional questions about the Intel
Management Engine and what it brings to the table. First, all current
Intel Core and Intel Atom-derived systems from Dell ship with the IME
enabled. As far as we know, this has been the case for years, both at
Dell and at other OEMs. Dell explained that it enables IME because the
functionality is an "integral part of normal system operation." This
includes configuring system clocks, thermal management, and security
features used to ensure code integrity. It also enables DRM video
content playback.

Back in 2015, we covered Windows 10’s then-upcoming PlayReady 3.0 DRM
system. One of the points Microsoft made up-front is that DRM compliance
required a new hardware security processor and a secure media pipeline
implemented within the GPU, and the Intel Management Engine seems to be
designed to fit those goals (even if 4K streaming is confined to Kaby
Lake and other chips).

Dell also told us that it doesn’t use the Intel Management Engine for
any custom purpose, though some of its commercial products do use
Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT). AMT is only available on PCs
that also offer vPro and is used for remote system maintenance. ...

  (11) Mossad offers seed money to I.T. Startups to develop technology
for Spying

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israels-Mossad-is-looking-for-a-few-good-startups-498063

ISRAEL'S MOSSAD IS LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD STARTUPS

"We are looking for companies that are dealing in areas we are
interested in, that are at the beginning stages, with a good idea and a
good staff."

BY HERB KEINON   JUNE 27, 2017 16:00

That’s rights, after excelling in various forms of spy craft, the
Israeli intelligence agency is dipping into the field of seed money for
start-ups. Only it’s not trying to turn a profit, but rather to stay a
step ahead of the next big thing in technology.

Eli Groner, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, said in
a conference call with journalists that the overall aim of the project,
which has been in the works for 18 months and officially launched on
Tuesday, is to enable the Mossad to take advantage of Israel’s unique
start-up ecosystem to ensure its technological superiority.

A Mossad employee, identified on the call only as "Aleph," said the
Mossad has come to the conclusion that in today’s technological world,
there is a need to find a way to work with start-ups.

"We are looking for companies that are dealing in areas we are
interested in, that are at the beginning stages, with a good idea and a
good staff. We want a relationship with them and invest in their idea,
so that they can fulfill their dreams and we can get the technology that
we can use," he said.

Both Groner and Aleph said the idea was not to buy technology that
already exists, but rather to be involved in the early stages so that
the Mossad gets the technology it feels it needs. Groner said nobody
will know what the Mossad will ultimately do with the technology.

The US has something similar, called In-Q-Tel, which is defined as the
"strategic investor for the US intelligence and defense communities that
identifies and adapts cutting- edge technologies."

According to the slick website for Libertad (www.libertad.gov.il), it
"seeks to strengthen both start-up companies and the Mossad’s knowledge
base, operating at the forefront of technological innovation."

The fund is offering up to NIS 2 million in equity free capital for R&D
of relevant, viable and groundbreaking projects. A larger investment may
be approved in special cases. Groner said that the expectation is that
in the beginning stages the Mossad will invest in five projects a year.

On Tuesday it issued calls for proposal in the fields of robotics,
energy, encryption, web intelligence and big data and text analysis. ...

The names of the start-ups the Mossad works with will not be published.

(12) Mossad to put out another call for applications to develop
cutting-edge technology
https://www.jpost.com/Jpost-Tech/Start-up-spies-Mossad-enters-the-world-of-venture-capitalism-544833

START-UP SPIES? MOSSAD ENTERS THE WORLD OF VENTURE CAPITALISM

The fund, named Libertad Ventures, is expected to put out another call
for applications to develop cutting-edge technology for its spying
purposes, later this year.

BY YONAH JEREMY BOB   MARCH 12, 2018 11:22

Israel's secret spy agency, the Mossad, announced on Sunday that it had
successfully finished its first round of start-up investments.

The fund, named Libertad Ventures, is expected to put out another call
for applications to develop cutting-edge technology for its spying
purposes, later this year.

Be the first to know - Join our Facebook page.

  In June, the fund was made public for the first time and previous
announcements have indicated that it would invest NIS 10 million per
year in five companies following a similar model to the CIA in this arena.

The CIA’s parallel outfit is called Q-Tel, which is defined as the
"strategic investor for the US intelligence and defense communities that
identifies and adapts cutting-edge technologies."

Mossad director Yossi Cohen praised the first round of funding, saying:
"In Israel, there is cutting-edge technology which will widen the
envelope from which the Mossad operates and will place it in a better
position to confront future challenges. Our cooperation with civilian
companies is excellent and we will continue to strengthen it."

Those start-ups already selected by the Mossad are expected to execute
their research and development plans in 2018-2019 and to provide the
Mossad with the results of their efforts with no licensing or other
conditions of use between the parties.

Libertad was established to achieve the strategic goal of building
long-term advanced technological capabilities and to take advantage of
Israel’s innovative and creative hi-tech atmosphere.

The initial round of applications was focused in five areas identified
by the Mossad, but the Mossad also got applications in other areas from
companies all over the world.

Initially, the Mossad called for proposals in the fields of robotics,
energy, encryption, web intelligence and big data and text analysis. ...