According to Israeli media, police have arrested executives of a companythat sells surveillance tools for mobile devices.
The company is Ability Inc. Specifically, authorities arrested executives of two subsidiaries of Ability Inc., Computer & Software and Ability Security Systems . These companies supply law enforcement agencies around the world with mobile hacking tools
Ability's tools are considered among the best of their kind. They exploit vulnerabilities in telecommunications protocols and effectively track victims' mobile phones.
The arrests came after a months-long investigation by the Israeli government into the company's affairs.
In March, the Defense Ministry suspended the company's export license. This license allowed Ability to sell its tools to countries other than Israel.
Israeli media reports that the police decided to arrest the executives of the subsidiary companies, as they continued to sell products in areas outside Israel, without an export license, thus violating the laws of the Israeli government.
In addition, there were allegations of fraud and money laundering. The economic department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry conducted a separate investigation into this case.
Investigations into both cases are ongoing. Police declined to release the names of the arrested officers or provide further details about how the arrests were made.
In June, the company faced another legal problem. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ability and its two key executives, accusing the company of defrauding shareholders of a company it had merged with.
Ability has been in the spotlight several times. A 2017 Forbes report showed that the company has faced various financial issues due to some missteps and investments.
