NYPD set to acquire covert Israeli phone-tracking tech under $750k sole-source contract —— The New York Police Department is moving toward a three-year, $750,500 no-bid contract with Israeli surveillance firm Cognyte to procure FalcoNet, an advanced cell-site simulator. According to a report by the New York Daily News, the AI-driven device functions by impersonating a mobile cell tower to secretly intercept and track individual phones. The compact hardware is designed for highly versatile deployment, allowing it to be concealed inside backpacks, mounted on police cruisers, or attached to airborne drones. The procurement deal brings heightened scrutiny due to Cognyte’s contentious global track record. Reuters previously reported that the firm sold intercept spyware to Myanmar’s state telecom operator just weeks ahead of the country's 2021 military coup. That same year, tech giant Meta banned Cognyte from its platforms after discovering customer networks utilizing fraudulent accounts to target and spy on journalists, opposition politicians, and civil society members across Kenya, Mexico, and Indonesia. The transaction underscores the expanding international footprint of Israel's military-surveillance sector, which developed much of its commercial footprint through extensive intelligence operations against Palestinians. Techniques and technologies refined by units like Israel's elite Unit 8200—where mass phone interceptions are routinely archived to enforce the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem—are increasingly exported directly to municipal police departments across the US.