ICE unit signs new $3 million contract for phone hacking tech

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) instrumentality enforcement limb Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has signed a declaration worthy $3 cardinal with Magnet Forensics, a institution that makes a telephone hacking and unlocking instrumentality called Graykey.  

The contract, which appeared connected Tuesday successful a federal authorities procurement database, said it is for bundle licenses for the telephone hacking tech for HSI “to retrieve integer evidence, process aggregate devices, & make forensic reports indispensable to ngo of protecting nationalist information & public.” 

While the declaration doesn’t notation the sanction of the product, it’s apt referring to Graykey, a forensic strategy to unlock smartphones and extract information from them, which was primitively developed by Grayshift. Magnet Forensics merged with Grayshift pursuing an acquisition by backstage equity steadfast Thoma Bravo successful 2023. 

Apart from this astir caller contract, the procurement database shows ICE and HSI signed respective different contracts with Magnet Forensics and its partner Panamerica Computers, including: 

• A subscription for Magnet Griffeye Enterprise, a platform that collects, processes, organizes, and analyzes information and evidence. The declaration for HSI is worthy $145,000 and was besides signed connected Tuesday. 

• GrayKey Premier bundle renewal licenses for “iOS and Android extractions of physics devices for instrumentality enforcement investigations,” specifically for HSI successful Detroit, a declaration worthy $90,000 and signed connected September 5.  

• A acquisition of bundle licenses for Graykey to assistance HSI “recover integer grounds connected aggregate devices for investigative operations,” worthy $57,000 and signed connected August 21.  

• A declaration worthy $12,000 for unspecified Magnet Forensics bundle licenses for HSI successful Charlotte, signed connected August 18.  

Magnet Forensics did not respond to TechCrunch’s petition for comment.  

An ICE spokesperson acknowledged TechCrunch’s outreach but did not remark by property time. DHS did not respond to a petition for comment.  

ICE has an extended arsenal of tech tools, including facial designation bundle provided by Clearview AI, cellphone spyware made by Paragon, and information analytics bundle made by Palantir, to enactment its wide deportations campaign.  

Last year, ICE signed a declaration with Magnet Forensics for Graykey, worthy $5 million, as archetypal reported by Forbes astatine the time. Graykey was launched successful 2016 to vie with the much established telephone hacking strategy UFED, made by Israeli institution Cellebrite

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