The company has been associated with several international scandals, namely ones that involve Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, when he attempted to investigate which of his accusers were speaking with the press. Black Cube has spied on behalf of private customers and the Israeli government as well.
According a report from Haaretz, the company was employed by the ministry between the years 2012 and 2014, and its employees were placed on an IDF intelligence base full time. Dan Zorella, the co-founder of the company, is also a veteran of a secret IDF special operations unit.
The Defense Ministry stated that: “There was a short-term contract with Black Cube from 2012-2014. The relationship was conducted in keeping with obligatory regulations.” The ministry refused to say, however, whether or not Black Cube employees were involved with espionage themselves, or even if they had just helped with intelligence in general.
Another time the company had gotten into hot water for its operations was when it was reported that the Trump administration had hired the company to spy on Obama officials in an attempt to discredit the Iran nuclear deal which had been signed at the time. While these scandals have brought with them their fair share of scrutiny, they has also boosted the company, bringing it new customers in the process.
This is in addition to working with several governments, despite officially only working on civilian disputes.
Black Cube was founded in 2010 by Zorella and Avi Yanus, who met during studies at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The company, which has offices in Tel Aviv and London, advertises itself as employing former agents from the Mossad, Shin Bet (Israel security agency) and Military Intelligence; making use of their work methods; and employing them on behalf of private customers.Former Mossad head Meir Dagan was at one point the company’s president.