Unit 8200 (
Hebrew:
יחידה 8200,
Yehida Shmoneh-Matayim) is an
Israeli Intelligence Corps unit responsible for collecting
signal intelligence and code decryption. It also appears in military publications as the Central Collection Unit of the Intelligence Corps.
[edit]History
Unit 8200 was established in 1952 using primitive surplus American military equipment. Originally, it was called the 2nd Intelligence Service Unit and then the 515th Intelligence Service Unit. In 1954, the unit moved from
Jaffa to its current base at the Glilot junction.
[1]
[edit]Structure
The IDF's most important signal intelligence-gathering installation is the
Urim SIGINT Base, a part of Unit 8200. Urim is located in the Negev desert approximately 30 km from Beersheba.
[3]In March 2004, the Commission to investigate the intelligence network following the War in Iraq
recommended turning the unit into a civilian National SIGINT Agency, as is in other Western countries, but this proposal was not implemented.
[edit]Alleged activities
In 2010, the
New York Times cited "a former member of the United States intelligence community" alleging that this unit used a secret kill switch to deactivate Syrian air defenses during
Operation Orchard.
[5]
Unit 8200 was speculated by many media reports to be responsible for the creation of
Stuxnet computer worm that in 2010 infected industrial computers, including Iranian nuclear facilities.
[6]
[edit]References
[edit]External links