cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/34660966

As of June 2025, over 1,400 veterans of Israeli intelligence are now working in U.S. tech—with 900 of those coming from Unit 8200 alone. That number comes from a database of people who publicly identify themselves as being both former Israeli intelligence officers and holding a job in U.S. tech on their LinkedIn profiles.

The database was assembled by an independent researcher, who is remaining anonymous for personal security and has dubbed the database the “Eagle Mission” influence network. The 1,400 people are self-identified veterans or active reserve members of Unit 8200, Israeli military intelligence, and the IDF Cyber Defense Directorate working in senior and mid-level engineering and security roles at major U.S. tech firms with offices in Israel, the U.S., and Europe. Drop Site crosschecked many of the records in the database for accuracy.

“This does not mean that every person who served in Unit 8200 is an Israeli spy looking to send classified data back to Tel Aviv,” the researcher emphasized. “But it does create a serious vulnerability. No other country has this kind of access to the American tech sector. We obsess over Chinese involvement in the tech industry and worry about corporate espionage, but Israeli penetration rarely gets mentioned.”

The global tech giant Microsoft is one of the most prominent employers of Unit 8200 alumni, employing roughly 250 veterans of the unit, alongside other major multinational companies including Nvidia, Meta, Google, Intel, and Apple, many of whom employ dozens of individuals drawn from the unit. Microsoft was recently revealed to have closely collaborated with Unit 8200 leadership on the creation of cloud services intended to store millions of private communications of Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. Microsoft declined to comment.

As of June 2025, over 1,400 veterans of Israeli intelligence are now working in U.S. tech—with 900 of those coming from Unit 8200 alone. That number comes from a database of people who publicly identify themselves as being both former Israeli intelligence officers and holding a job in U.S. tech on their LinkedIn profiles.

The database was assembled by an independent researcher, who is remaining anonymous for personal security and has dubbed the database the “Eagle Mission” influence network. The 1,400 people are self-identified veterans or active reserve members of Unit 8200, Israeli military intelligence, and the IDF Cyber Defense Directorate working in senior and mid-level engineering and security roles at major U.S. tech firms with offices in Israel, the U.S., and Europe. Drop Site crosschecked many of the records in the database for accuracy.

“This does not mean that every person who served in Unit 8200 is an Israeli spy looking to send classified data back to Tel Aviv,” the researcher emphasized. “But it does create a serious vulnerability. No other country has this kind of access to the American tech sector. We obsess over Chinese involvement in the tech industry and worry about corporate espionage, but Israeli penetration rarely gets mentioned.”

The global tech giant Microsoft is one of the most prominent employers of Unit 8200 alumni, employing roughly 250 veterans of the unit, alongside other major multinational companies including Nvidia, Meta, Google, Intel, and Apple, many of whom employ dozens of individuals drawn from the unit. Microsoft was recently revealed to have closely collaborated with Unit 8200 leadership on the creation of cloud services intended to store millions of private communications of Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. Microsoft declined to comment.

As of June 2025, over 1,400 veterans of Israeli intelligence are now working in U.S. tech—with 900 of those coming from Unit 8200 alone. That number comes from a database of people who publicly identify themselves as being both former Israeli intelligence officers and holding a job in U.S. tech on their LinkedIn profiles.

The database was assembled by an independent researcher, who is remaining anonymous for personal security and has dubbed the database the “Eagle Mission” influence network. The 1,400 people are self-identified veterans or active reserve members of Unit 8200, Israeli military intelligence, and the IDF Cyber Defense Directorate working in senior and mid-level engineering and security roles at major U.S. tech firms with offices in Israel, the U.S., and Europe. Drop Site crosschecked many of the records in the database for accuracy.

“This does not mean that every person who served in Unit 8200 is an Israeli spy looking to send classified data back to Tel Aviv,” the researcher emphasized. “But it does create a serious vulnerability. No other country has this kind of access to the American tech sector. We obsess over Chinese involvement in the tech industry and worry about corporate espionage, but Israeli penetration rarely gets mentioned.”

The global tech giant Microsoft is one of the most prominent employers of Unit 8200 alumni, employing roughly 250 veterans of the unit, alongside other major multinational companies including Nvidia, Meta, Google, Intel, and Apple, many of whom employ dozens of individuals drawn from the unit. Microsoft was recently revealed to have closely collaborated with Unit 8200 leadership on the creation of cloud services intended to store millions of private communications of Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. Microsoft declined to comment.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/34649504

Summertime edition has arrived! Look forward to new features Itinerary, Dolphin, NeoChat and more.

Whether you need to brush up on your languages to visit exotic lands, plan your trips, keep up to date while on the move, meet up with friends and colleagues, create content from your holiday clips, or just chill as your quaint steam engine trundles up a picturesque peak, KDE Gear 🌞 25.08 has got you covered.

Summertime edition has arrived! Look forward to new features Itinerary, Dolphin, NeoChat and more.

Whether you need to brush up on your languages to visit exotic lands, plan your trips, keep up to date while on the move, meet up with friends and colleagues, create content from your holiday clips, or just chill as your quaint steam engine trundles up a picturesque peak, KDE Gear 🌞 25.08 has got you covered.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/34545365

From December 2002 to April 2005, a pilot was conducted in DG INFSO to evaluate the use of Linux based PC's in the Commission environment, which involved a selected group of users. This group consisted of about 40 persons with a wide diversity of functional profiles (project officer, secretary, financial officer, deputy director general, assistant, etc. …). The scope of the pilot was the testing of the interoperability between the Linux and the Windows environment in terms of electronic file and printer sharing, text processing, spreadsheet, presentation, email / groupware software, other software and support facilities, this specifically in the EC environment.

In co-operation with the Informatics Directorate, a reference configuration was set-up on a number of PC's based on the Linux Operating System and other Open Software products.

Main conclusions are:

• The integration of the Linux based clients in the Windows NT environment did not cause any problems. Integration in the newer NET1 environment (based on the Active Directory) was also successful without major problems. Electronic files and printers both from the Linux environment and the Windows environment could be shared with each other.
• Compatibility tests of the Open Source text processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software were generally satisfactory. Conversion of complex documents showed to be sometimes problematic because of the differences between MS Word and OpenOffice and some problems were encountered with the proprietary fonts of Microsoft. On the other hand, some features were available in OpenOffice that did not exist in the Microsoft Office suite. Further improvements are to be expected now that Microsoft is supporting XML based file formats. Some problems relating to important Commission-specific extensions to MS Word, such as the ones used for the preparation of official notes and legal documents, were identified. A redevelopment of these extensions would be required to solve this issue.
• At the level of the email most of the features are available and no major problems were encountered. However, the shared mail and calendar resources functionality caused several problems at the level of the interoperability with the present Commission email infrastructure. Interoperability tests with the future Commission email infrastructure (foreseen for implementation in 2006) were positive and most of the problems were solved. Some problems relating to specific extensions used within the Commission (Email Archiving System) remained. The question can be raised if a totally new environment based on Open Source at Commission level could be envisaged. Several Open Source solutions are available with functionality comparable to Microsoft's email platform. Initiatives worthwhile mentioning are the development of Kroupware (funded by the German Administration), eGroupWare and OpenGroupware.
• Compatibility tests of Commission-wide applications were negative. Redevelopment of these types of applications as web applications will resolve the problems. The Commission environment would evolve to a more Windows-independent environment, if a strategy could be adopted on these lines. Within the present planning of DG DIGIT it isforeseen that the corporate applications under their responsibility will be redeveloped by 2008. This is already a realisation of a large part of that strategy. However, it is imperative that any web application should be developed in a browser independent way, which should be feasible to do. The browser independence is further emphasised by the commitment of the Commission to implement the first level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for the Europa and the Intracomm website.
• The Open Source world has proven to have the ability to adapt to new versions of the Microsoft software / environment. This was demonstrated with the changeover from the NT domain to the NET1 domain and with the changeover from the older versions of Office / Email to the newer versions. Sometimes there was a delay in the development of the adaptation depending on the magnitude of the differences. Also, sometimes certain useful features available in OpenSource world do not exist in the corresponding software in the Microsoft environment.
• The availability of third party software is not completely positive and is greatly depending on the market and profit analysis done by the corresponding software vendor. The question can again be raised if totally new software based on Open Source could not be envisaged. Most of the time Open Source solutions are available with functionality comparable to the original third party software.

In general, the Linux platforms that were tested show a very fair level of usability and compatibility. An environment based on Linux is today technically feasible for limited groups with specific needs. Although there are many other factors that could play a role in the decision in favour of the implementation of an environment based on Linux, the present testing shows that is not possible to implement it at this moment in time on a large scale. Amongst the most blocking factors is the availability of Commission and local applications. The redevelopment of applications would be necessary to solve this problem. In any case, a migration of more than 25000 users is an entirely different project with different objectives, starting with a necessary cost/benefit analysis. The project of a general migration would need to be prepared and planned very carefully, in the hypothesis of a satisfactory OSS platform and a political and technical decision, in order to guarantee minimal disturbance to the users and a similar level of functionality.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/34545365

From December 2002 to April 2005, a pilot was conducted in DG INFSO to evaluate the use of Linux based PC's in the Commission environment, which involved a selected group of users. This group consisted of about 40 persons with a wide diversity of functional profiles (project officer, secretary, financial officer, deputy director general, assistant, etc. …). The scope of the pilot was the testing of the interoperability between the Linux and the Windows environment in terms of electronic file and printer sharing, text processing, spreadsheet, presentation, email / groupware software, other software and support facilities, this specifically in the EC environment.

In co-operation with the Informatics Directorate, a reference configuration was set-up on a number of PC's based on the Linux Operating System and other Open Software products.

Main conclusions are:

• The integration of the Linux based clients in the Windows NT environment did not cause any problems. Integration in the newer NET1 environment (based on the Active Directory) was also successful without major problems. Electronic files and printers both from the Linux environment and the Windows environment could be shared with each other.
• Compatibility tests of the Open Source text processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software were generally satisfactory. Conversion of complex documents showed to be sometimes problematic because of the differences between MS Word and OpenOffice and some problems were encountered with the proprietary fonts of Microsoft. On the other hand, some features were available in OpenOffice that did not exist in the Microsoft Office suite. Further improvements are to be expected now that Microsoft is supporting XML based file formats. Some problems relating to important Commission-specific extensions to MS Word, such as the ones used for the preparation of official notes and legal documents, were identified. A redevelopment of these extensions would be required to solve this issue.
• At the level of the email most of the features are available and no major problems were encountered. However, the shared mail and calendar resources functionality caused several problems at the level of the interoperability with the present Commission email infrastructure. Interoperability tests with the future Commission email infrastructure (foreseen for implementation in 2006) were positive and most of the problems were solved. Some problems relating to specific extensions used within the Commission (Email Archiving System) remained. The question can be raised if a totally new environment based on Open Source at Commission level could be envisaged. Several Open Source solutions are available with functionality comparable to Microsoft's email platform. Initiatives worthwhile mentioning are the development of Kroupware (funded by the German Administration), eGroupWare and OpenGroupware.
• Compatibility tests of Commission-wide applications were negative. Redevelopment of these types of applications as web applications will resolve the problems. The Commission environment would evolve to a more Windows-independent environment, if a strategy could be adopted on these lines. Within the present planning of DG DIGIT it isforeseen that the corporate applications under their responsibility will be redeveloped by 2008. This is already a realisation of a large part of that strategy. However, it is imperative that any web application should be developed in a browser independent way, which should be feasible to do. The browser independence is further emphasised by the commitment of the Commission to implement the first level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for the Europa and the Intracomm website.
• The Open Source world has proven to have the ability to adapt to new versions of the Microsoft software / environment. This was demonstrated with the changeover from the NT domain to the NET1 domain and with the changeover from the older versions of Office / Email to the newer versions. Sometimes there was a delay in the development of the adaptation depending on the magnitude of the differences. Also, sometimes certain useful features available in OpenSource world do not exist in the corresponding software in the Microsoft environment.
• The availability of third party software is not completely positive and is greatly depending on the market and profit analysis done by the corresponding software vendor. The question can again be raised if totally new software based on Open Source could not be envisaged. Most of the time Open Source solutions are available with functionality comparable to the original third party software.

In general, the Linux platforms that were tested show a very fair level of usability and compatibility. An environment based on Linux is today technically feasible for limited groups with specific needs. Although there are many other factors that could play a role in the decision in favour of the implementation of an environment based on Linux, the present testing shows that is not possible to implement it at this moment in time on a large scale. Amongst the most blocking factors is the availability of Commission and local applications. The redevelopment of applications would be necessary to solve this problem. In any case, a migration of more than 25000 users is an entirely different project with different objectives, starting with a necessary cost/benefit analysis. The project of a general migration would need to be prepared and planned very carefully, in the hypothesis of a satisfactory OSS platform and a political and technical decision, in order to guarantee minimal disturbance to the users and a similar level of functionality.

Are you using KDE Plasma but still working the same way you did on Windows? Do you wonder if you're getting the most out of your KDE Plasma setup? Well, here are five game-changing features that completely transformed how I use and interact with my PC!

By default, KDE Plasma can feel like another desktop environment (DE) trying to nail the Windows look and feel, but it's so much more than that! Plasma offers unique features that can fundamentally reshape how you think about desktop computing, turning routine tasks into effortless interactions. These aren't just a different way of doing things, but rather a better way as they eliminate entire categories of friction and open up more efficient workflows. Here I've shortlisted my top five favorite KDE Plasma features, how they've changed my approach to desktop computing, and why I can't go back!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/34342710

Apple has made headlines in recent weeks for touting its commitment to privacy and human rights, rolling out tools to limit surveillance and spyware. But behind the corporate messaging lies a much darker reality.

The company has quietly brought in dozens of veterans from Unit 8200, Israel’s shadowy military intelligence unit known for blackmail, mass surveillance, and targeted killings.

Many of these hires took place as Israel escalated its war on Gaza, and as CEO Tim Cook publicly expressed support for Israel while disciplining employees for pro-Palestinian expressions. Apple’s deepening ties to Israel’s most controversial intelligence raise uncomfortable questions, not only about the company’s political loyalties, but also about how it handles vast troves of personal user data.

A MintPress News investigation has identified dozens of Unit 8200 operatives now working at Apple. The company’s hiring spree coincides with growing scrutiny of its ties to the Israeli government, including its policy of matching employee donations to groups such as Friends of the IDF and the Jewish National Fund, both of which play a role in the displacement of the Palestinian people. The intense pro-Israel bias at the corporation has led many former and current employees to speak out.

This investigation is part of a series examining the close collaboration between Unit 8200 and Western tech and media companies. Previous investigations examined the links between Unit 8200 and social media giants like TikTok, Facebook and Google, and how former Unit 8200 spies are now responsible for writing much of America’s news about Israel/Palestine, holding top jobs at outlets like CNN and Axios.

Apple has made headlines in recent weeks for touting its commitment to privacy and human rights, rolling out tools to limit surveillance and spyware. But behind the corporate messaging lies a much darker reality.

The company has quietly brought in dozens of veterans from Unit 8200, Israel’s shadowy military intelligence unit known for blackmail, mass surveillance, and targeted killings.

Many of these hires took place as Israel escalated its war on Gaza, and as CEO Tim Cook publicly expressed support for Israel while disciplining employees for pro-Palestinian expressions. Apple’s deepening ties to Israel’s most controversial intelligence raise uncomfortable questions, not only about the company’s political loyalties, but also about how it handles vast troves of personal user data.

A MintPress News investigation has identified dozens of Unit 8200 operatives now working at Apple. The company’s hiring spree coincides with growing scrutiny of its ties to the Israeli government, including its policy of matching employee donations to groups such as Friends of the IDF and the Jewish National Fund, both of which play a role in the displacement of the Palestinian people. The intense pro-Israel bias at the corporation has led many former and current employees to speak out.

This investigation is part of a series examining the close collaboration between Unit 8200 and Western tech and media companies. Previous investigations examined the links between Unit 8200 and social media giants like TikTok, Facebook and Google, and how former Unit 8200 spies are now responsible for writing much of America’s news about Israel/Palestine, holding top jobs at outlets like CNN and Axios.

This blog post is already quite long, so it will omit changes merged for Plasma 6.5 (releasing in October, to be announced in a future post).

With the Plasma 6.2 release, we moved Plasma Dialer and Spacebar to the Plasma release cycle, allowing us to have consistent releases of the two apps. This completes our year long move to having all Plasma Mobile related projects released as part of wider KDE releases, streamlining the work for distributions and taking a load off us on having to maintain a separate release cycle!

In other news, a Fedora spin for Plasma Mobile was released! It will only be targeting devices that can currently boot Fedora (i.e. not ARM phones), but is very exciting nonetheless!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/31824667

The KDE community today announced the latest release: Plasma 6.4. This fresh new release improves on nearly every front, with progress being made in accessibility, color rendering, tablet support, window management, and more.

Plasma already offered virtual desktops and customizable tiles to help organize your windows and activities, and now it lets you choose a different configuration of tiles on each virtual desktop. The Wayland session brings some new accessibility features: you can now move the pointer using your keyboard’s number pad keys, or use a three-finger touchpad pinch gesture to zoom in or out. Plasma file transfer notification now shows a speed graph, giving you a more visual idea of how fast the transfer is going, and how long it will take to complete. When any applications are in full screen mode Plasma will now enter Do Not Disturb mode and only show urgent notifications, and when you exit full screen mode, you’ll see a summary of any notifications you missed. Now when an application tries to access the microphone and finds it muted, a notification will pop up. A new feature in the Application Launcher widget will place a green New! tag next to newly installed apps, so you can easily find where something you just installed lives in the menu. The Display and Monitor page in System Settings comes with a brand new HDR calibration wizard, and support for Extended Dynamic Range (a different kind of HDR) and P010 video color format has been added. System Monitor now supports usage monitoring for AMD and Intel graphic cards, it can even show the GPU usage on a per-process basis. Spectacle, the built-in app for taking screenshots and screen recordings, has much improved design and more streamlined functionality. The background of the desktop or window now darkens when an authentication dialog shows up, helping you locate and focus on the window asking for your password. There’s a brand-new Animations page in System Settings that groups all the settings for purely visual animated effects into one place, making it easier to find and configure them. Aurorae is a newly added SVG vector graphics theme engine for KWin window decorations.

You can read more about these and many other other features in the Plasma 6.4 anounncement and complete changelog.