Israeli surveillance companies pioneered smartphone spyware that could silently take over any device on earth. Now, according to a new investigation by Haaretz, the same industry has turned its attention to vehicles. The sector has a name: CARINT, for car intelligence.
The Haaretz investigation found that Israeli cyber firms have developed tools to track targets through movement data gleaned from connected vehicles — the same cars most people drive daily. The most advanced capabilities go further: accessing in-car microphones and cameras, and, in some cases, seeking the ability to disable a vehicle remotely. Modern cars have become digital platforms on wheels, and the surveillance industry has adapted accordingly.
The findings emerged alongside renewed scrutiny of Paragon Solutions, an Israeli spyware company previously linked to the targeting of journalists, civil society workers, and activists in multiple countries. The combination offers a rare window into how Israel’s private intelligence technology sector operates — one that has consistently developed tools of intrusion far ahead of any accountability framework capable of governing them.
This matters well beyond technology policy. Israel’s surveillance industry — which built NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, Candiru, and now Paragon — has supplied tools used by authoritarian governments around the world to track journalists, dissidents, and human rights workers. The CARINT tools described by Haaretz follow the same commercial logic: develop capabilities for sale to any government willing to pay, with few questions asked and no oversight enforced.
The United States has sanctioned NSO Group but has not barred American entities from doing business with the broader Israeli surveillance industry. Israeli surveillance technology has been used against American journalists and, according to multiple investigations, against Palestinian activists and their international supporters. The expansion into vehicle surveillance is a natural evolution of an industry that has never faced meaningful legal consequences for its prior deployments.
Israel’s Surveillance Industry Has Turned Your Car Into a Spy. A New Investigation Reveals How.
Israeli surveillance companies pioneered smartphone spyware that could silently take over any device on earth. Now, according to a new investigation by Haaretz, the same industry has turned its attention to vehicles. The sector has a name: CARINT, for car intelligence.
The Haaretz investigation found that Israeli cyber firms have developed tools to track targets through movement data gleaned from connected vehicles — the same cars most people drive daily. The most advanced capabilities go further: accessing in-car microphones and cameras, and, in some cases, seeking the ability to disable a vehicle remotely. Modern cars have become digital platforms on wheels, and the surveillance industry has adapted accordingly.
The findings emerged alongside renewed scrutiny of Paragon Solutions, an Israeli spyware company previously linked to the targeting of journalists, civil society workers, and activists in multiple countries. The combination offers a rare window into how Israel’s private intelligence technology sector operates — one that has consistently developed tools of intrusion far ahead of any accountability framework capable of governing them.
This matters well beyond technology policy. Israel’s surveillance industry — which built NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, Candiru, and now Paragon — has supplied tools used by authoritarian governments around the world to track journalists, dissidents, and human rights workers. The CARINT tools described by Haaretz follow the same commercial logic: develop capabilities for sale to any government willing to pay, with few questions asked and no oversight enforced.
The United States has sanctioned NSO Group but has not barred American entities from doing business with the broader Israeli surveillance industry. Israeli surveillance technology has been used against American journalists and, according to multiple investigations, against Palestinian activists and their international supporters. The expansion into vehicle surveillance is a natural evolution of an industry that has never faced meaningful legal consequences for its prior deployments.