Aletho News

How Israeli intel-linked Axonius penetrated 70 US federal agencies

Al Mayadeen | December 7, 2025

A technology firm with longstanding links to Israeli intelligence has quietly assumed a central role in safeguarding the digital systems of more than seventy US government agencies, including the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, according to initial reporting by independent outlet Do Not Panic.

Axonius, founded by former officers of “Israel’s” Unit 8200, offers software designed to give organizations “visibility and control over all types and number of devices.” In practice, this means the platform collects and analyzes data tied to millions of federal employees.

The company was set up by three Israelis, Dean Sysman, Ofri Shur, and Avidor Bartov, who served together in Unit 8200 in the early 2010s. While Sysman’s LinkedIn profile offers only vague references to work with “far-reaching implications,” their time overlaps with key years of Israeli aggression.

Sysman left the Israeli forces in 2014 to launch a cyber-hacking venture. Shur and Bartov remained in uniform until 2017, a period that included “Israel’s” 2014 aggression on Gaza.

Rapid formation and strategic early funding

Shur and Bartov left military service in 2017 and swiftly reunited with Sysman. Almost immediately, the trio secured $4 million in seed funding from Yoav Leitersdorf, an Israeli-American investor, fellow Unit 8200 veteran, and managing partner of US-Israeli venture capital firm YL Ventures.

Additional financing arrived from Israeli firm Vertex Ventures, whose leadership is similarly rooted in Israeli military intelligence; partner Tami Bronner served four years in the IOF’s intelligence wing.

Axonius then attracted hundreds of millions in further investment from US venture capital funds with strong connections to “Israel’s” security apparatus, as per the investigative website.

Accel Partners, which has backed more than thirty Israeli tech firms, was among the earliest. Bessemer Venture Partners, whose Tel Aviv office is staffed by former Israeli intelligence personnel, also joined. One partner, Amit Karp, a former intelligence officer, now sits on the Axonius board.

Lightspeed Venture Partners, another major backer contributing roughly $200m across several rounds, employs multiple former members of Israeli military and special forces units.

Deep penetration into US federal system

Given these backgrounds, the reach of Axonius inside the US federal infrastructure is striking. The company says its platform is now running across “more than 70 federal organizations,” including four of the five core Department of Defense service branches. Award records show contracts with the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

In November 2024, the Department of Homeland Security selected Axonius to centralise cyber data for dozens of federal agencies. A month later, the Pentagon tapped the company to update its system for 24/7 monitoring of all DoD networks, a key piece of federal cyber defense.

By April, Axonius had secured blanket authorization for its cloud-based tools to be used by any US federal agency.

Far-reaching footprint across government

Axonius’ software is now integrated into agencies spanning energy, transportation, treasury, health, and agriculture. Spending databases show the Defense Logistics Agency, responsible for managing the US global weapons supply chain, spent $4.3 million on Axonius in 2023 alone. The Department of Agriculture has paid nearly $2 million while Health and Human Services has paid more than $1.3 million since 2021.

Although the company presents itself as American, with headquarters in New York, its founders, top executives, and financial backers are overwhelmingly Israeli, and its engineering operations are based in Tel Aviv.

LinkedIn data indicates that most Axonius engineers in Tel Aviv previously worked in Israeli intelligence units. Through the platform, operators can link devices to specific individuals, track login activity, review browsing patterns, disable accounts, or quarantine devices.

The firm has also established a separate R&D arm,  AxoniusX,  led by another Unit 8200 veteran, Amit Ofer, and tasked with developing advanced cyber capabilities.

Defenders might argue that Axonius reflects the close and often opaque relationship between Washington and “Israel”. Yet “Israel’s” long record of espionage activity in the US complicates this narrative.

Historical examples range from spying operations involving Hollywood front companies to the sale of compromised software to foreign governments. Robert Maxwell, father of Ghislaine Maxwell, was an Israeli agent, and substantial evidence points to Jeffrey Epstein’s links to Israeli military intelligence. During Donald Trump’s first term, US officials reportedly discovered Israeli surveillance devices near the White House.

A Trojan horse risk?

Despite this backdrop, American authorities have permitted former Israeli intelligence officers to embed software across nearly the entire federal cyber infrastructure. In effect, the US has outsourced key elements of its digital security architecture to individuals with deep roots in the intelligence services of a foreign state.

Whether Axonius has misused or intends to misuse this access is unknown. But for analysts familiar with “Israel’s” espionage record, the arrangement raises profound questions about security, sovereignty, and oversight.

Axonius also illustrates a broader dynamic: US taxpayer funds help build “Israel’s” high-tech military apparatus, only for Washington to later purchase Israeli-developed technologies at scale, effectively paying twice. This cycle creates lucrative pathways for veterans of Israeli intelligence, while embedding their tools inside US systems, as per the investigation.

While political elites have long framed the relationship as mutually beneficial, public opinion is shifting. Millions of Americans now question whether support for “Israel” is the stabilising force it has been portrayed as.

The Axonius case surely adds fresh weight to those doubts.

December 7, 2025 - Posted by aletho | Deception | Israel, United States, Zionism