KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has emerged as one of the countries targeted in a covert Israeli-linked surveillance operation that used global telecommunications infrastructure to secretly track mobile phone users across multiple nations.
The international investigation, titled “Ghost Operators”, was reviewed by Israeli newspaper Haaretz and based on findings by Citizen Lab, which alleged that spyware-linked operators exploited weaknesses in telecom systems to monitor and locate individuals without their knowledge.
Malaysia was named alongside countries including Thailand, South Africa, Norway and Bangladesh as being potentially affected by the operation, which researchers said relied on vulnerabilities within both ageing and modern telecommunications networks.
According to the investigation, the operators allegedly turned telecom infrastructure, ranging from “1970s-era networks” to advanced 5G systems into covert surveillance tools capable of tracking mobile users in real time.
Researchers said the operation exploited flaws in global signalling protocols such as Signalling System 7 (SS7), as well as weaknesses within newer 4G and 5G infrastructure, enabling spyware actors to secretly access location data.
“Since November 2022, more than 15,700 attempts have been made to determine the location of phones” across affected countries, according to findings cited in the report.
The investigation stated that thousands of location-tracking attempts were recorded in countries including Malaysia, suggesting the surveillance campaign may have operated undetected for years.
“These systems can enable highly invasive location tracking capabilities on a global scale,” the report stated
Citizen Lab described those behind the campaign as “ghost operators”, referring to covert surveillance entities allegedly tied to the commercial Israeli spyware industry.
The revelations have once again intensified scrutiny on Israeli cyber intelligence and spyware firms, which have repeatedly faced accusations of enabling intrusive surveillance against journalists, activists, dissidents and political figures worldwide.
Israeli-linked spyware platforms, particularly Pegasus, have previously been accused of being used to infiltrate the phones of world leaders, opposition figures and members of the media across several countries.
Although the latest investigation did not publicly identify all companies or governments involved, researchers warned that weaknesses within global telecom infrastructure continue to pose a serious cybersecurity threat that could expose sensitive communications and user locations.
The findings are expected to raise fresh concerns in Malaysia over whether national telecommunications systems are sufficiently protected against covert foreign surveillance and espionage operations allegedly linked to Israeli spyware networks. – May 7, 2026