Is called Tal Hanan is 50 years old and Israelibut everyone knows him as Jorge. Better said: they referred to him as Jorge, because practically nobody knew who he was. His contractor company, the ‘Team George‘, claims to have rigged more than 30 elections around the world in the last two decades through a combination of hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation on social media. Among his interference is the cyber attack on the Generalitat in 2014.
Among the tactics used by ‘Team Jorge’ are the hacking of email accounts of political opponentsthe spread of false information on social networks and even the placement of false news in traditional media.
This was achieved through the use of ‘bots’ and fake profiles on social networks. One of ‘Team Jorge’s’ key services is a sophisticated software package called Advanced Impact Media Solutions (Aims). It controls a vast army of thousands of fake social media profiles on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Telegram, Gmail, Instagram and YouTube. Some avatars even have Amazon accounts with credit cards, bitcoin wallets, and Airbnb accounts.
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Hanan did not respond to questions about his ‘Team Jorge”s detailed activities and methods, but denied any wrongdoing: “I deny any wrongdoing.”
Hanan told undercover reporters that his services were available to all intelligence agencies, political campaigns and private companies that wanted to secretly manipulate public opinion. Besides, He confessed that he had worked in Africa, South America, Central America, the United States and Europe.
‘Team Jorge’ is made up of a group of highly-skilled and well-financed people, with extensive experience in the fields of technology and politics. Tal Hanan himself is a former Israeli intelligence agent who has previously worked on several high-level cybersecurity projects and who He has taught Spanish Security Forces and Corps courses.
The report suggests that the team’s success is largely due to its ability to remain anonymous and operate under the radar. Apparently, the group uses a complex network of shell companies and false identities to hide their activities from authorities and the general public.
The investigation that has revealed the case has been carried out by undercover journalists from The Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and The countryand is part of the Story Killers project, coordinated by Forbidden Storiesa French non-profit organization whose mission is to follow the work of journalists who are murdered, threatened or imprisoned.
undercover reporters
The footage was secretly filmed by three undercover reporters, who approached “Team Jorge” posing as possible clients. During the more than six hours of meetings, Hanan and his team discussed how they could gather intelligence on opponents, including accessing their personal Gmail and Telegram accounts. Also they bragged about placing ‘fake news’ in major media outletswhich are then viralized by Aims’ bot management software.
Hanan came to the meeting elegantly dressed, with an expensive and flashy watch. The meeting took place at the end of December last year, after five online meetings in which they had not been able to see the leader of the organization because he always had his camera turned off.
Hanan was friendly and greeted them warmly. He was flanked by four colleagues, including his brother Zohar Hanan, who was described as the CEO of the group. He then showed them a presentation on how he had rigged more than two dozen elections around the world through hacking, spreading disinformation and subterfuge.
“Now we are involved in an election in Africa… We have a team in Greece and a team in the Emirates. You are following the leads. [Hemos completado] 33 campaigns at the presidential level, 27 of which were successfulHanan said during the presentation.
[Si ha recibido un sms de su banco tenga cuidado: Málaga alerta de un repunte de ciberestafas]
Later, he said that he was involved in two “big projects” in the United Statesbut assured that he was not directly involved in US politics.
The reporters took pictures of agents working with laptops and phones, creating fake social media profiles or using automated tools to spread misinformation.
They describe being surprised by the light-hearted and confident way in which ‘Team Jorge’ members talked about their work. They characterized their tactics simply as a way of “influence the narrative” and “manipulate the conversation”. In addition, they boasted of their ability to control debates on the Internet and make false information go viral.
The images also show how the agents do everything possible to maintain their anonymity and hide their tracks. They use encrypted messaging apps and they operate through a complex network of fake profiles and fictitious companies.
‘Team Jorge’ told reporters that they would accept payments in a variety of currencies, including cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, or cash. He gave them an estimate of between 6 and 15 million euros for interfering in the elections.
However, the emails leaked to Guardian they show Hanan asking for more modest fees. One suggests that in 2015 he asked for $160,000 from the now-defunct British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to participate in an eight-week campaign in a Latin American country.
In 2017, Hanan again offered to work with Cambridge Analytica, this time in Kenya, but was turned down by the consultancy, which said “between 400,000 and 600,000 dollars per month“was more than his customers would agree to pay.
There is no evidence that any of those campaigns took place. However, other leaked documents reveal that when ‘Team Jorge’ worked covertly in Nigeria’s presidential racein 2015, it did so together with Cambridge Analytica.
Cyber attack on the Generalitat
Among the successful cyberattacks that Hanan boasted about, he named the case of the Generalitat in 2014. Then, the web pages of the Generalitat they were attacked for three days. Other institutions such as the Catalan National Assembly or Cultural Omnium they also reported cyberattacks those days.
Hanan admits that this work is not among his most elegant and sophisticated, although it was highly effective. To do this, he used the denial of service (DDoS) technique, which consists of flooding the server with requests until it is overwhelmed. In the case of 9-N, this technique would have been used to overthrow the consultation infrastructureaccording to elNacional.cat.
Story Killers
The investigation has been carried out thanks to Story Killers, a journalistic project that seeks to investigate and expose cases of repression and attacks on freedom of expression Worldwide. The project focuses on cases where individuals, companies or governments have tried to silence journalists, activists or citizens who have tried to report relevant facts, denounce corruption or human rights violations.
The initiative was founded by a team of journalists and documentary filmmakers who have extensive experience in investigating censorship cases and repression.
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They have made reports and documentaries in several countries that have had a great impact on public opinion. Among the issues they have addressed are the repression of journalists and political activists in Turkey, the harassment of journalists in Mexico or Media censorship in Hungary.
In addition to the publication of reports and documentaries, Story killers also offers information on organizations and resources that can help people denounce censorship and protect their freedom of expression.
