Comverse
 Comverse     | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Formation | 4 October 1984 |
| Founder | • Kobi Alexander • Boaz Misholi • Yechiam Yemini |
| Extinction | 4 February 2013? |
| Headquarters | Woodbury, Nassau County, New York, United States |
| Type | commercial |
| Subgroups | • Odigo • Verint Systems |
| Staff | 4,500 |
| Slogan | Enabling Network Software |
Comverse Infosys is a tech company, which while headquartered in the US, does most of its research and development in Israel. Founders include Kobi Alexander who reportedly made over $100 million in one year (2000) by exercising stock options. Comverse is reimbursed for up to 50% of its R&D costs by Israel's ministry of industry and trade.[1]
Activities
With the backing of the Israeli government, Comverse offered both services for phone providers and surveillance tools for government and law enforcement agencies to record conversations.[2][1]
Wiretapping in USA
The 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement act authorised a new system of wiretapping in USA. Comverse's computer software has been charged with having a backdoor that allows interception of wiretaps by unauthorised parties, a claim which was never investigated, but derived in part from suspects changing their behaviour to evade surveillance immediately they were made subjects of wiretapping.[1]
On the day of 9/11, Comverse owned Odigo.
When the 7/7 bombings occurred, Comverse owned Verint Systems which claimed that none of the London Underground CCTV cameras were working on that day.
