Israeli-developed BriefCam software has been discovered within Russian video surveillance networks, according to a report by the Russian opposition outlet The Moscow Times. This specific technology is believed to have been utilized by Israeli intelligence services for the tracking and subsequent assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran.
The software is designed for deep video stream analysis, capable of recognizing specific human actions and vehicle movements. The platform automatically processes massive datasets, searching archives for specific events and generating visual summaries. Journalists from Mash claim that "similar technologies were used by Israeli special services to track high-ranking officials in Iran, including the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."
BriefCam's developer was acquired by the Japanese corporation Canon in 2018. The technology was later integrated into the VMS XProtect system by the Danish company Milestone Systems. These solutions have been operational in the Russian market since the 2010s and are currently used at high-profile sites, including the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Eurasia skyscraper in Moscow City, and the Zotov Cultural Center.
While Milestone Systems officially exited the Russian market in 2022, the use of XProtect and BriefCam continues. Market experts suggest that "some distributors offer these products through gray import schemes or install cracked versions of the software."
Details previously revealed by The Financial Times regarding the special operation in Iran indicate that Israeli intelligence gained access to street cameras in Tehran. AI algorithms analyzed behavioral patterns near the residence of the country's top leadership. Images were encrypted and transmitted to servers in Tel Aviv and southern Israel.
The cyber breach allowed operatives to calculate camera viewing angles, identify blind spots, and map parking areas on Pasteur Street to study Khamenei’s security detail in depth. Simultaneously with the video interception, intelligence services disabled mobile towers near the complex, preventing Iranian security forces from sharing information during the operation.