IDF tech unit veterans helped create UAE spy tool masked as messenger app

ToTok, a popular free messenger app recently taken off the Google Market and Apple Store, was in fact a tool for cyber espionage meant to snoop on its users, the New York Times reported Monday.

According to the report, the app, which was recently one of the most-downloaded social media apps in the US, was built by a company affiliated with DarkMatter, an Abu Dhabi-based cybersecurity firm.

The app is said to have offered its developers troves of intelligence on its users, including their conversations, locations and appointments.

While most popular in the UAE, where authorities limit the use of other popular messenger apps such as WhatsApp and Skype, ToTok was installed on millions of phones elsewhere around the world.

DarkMatter was established in 2015 and has since been in the spotlight on a few occasions. One report detailed the company's efforts to attract veterans of the IDF's elite 8200 hi-tech unit with offers of lucrative salaries.

The 8200 veteran hackers working for DarkMatter are reportedly operating out of an office in Cyprus that is run by an affiliated company.

DarkMatter is alleged to have been involved in hacks that targeted Western officials, journalists and rights advocates, according to a Reuters report.