This is Tal Hanan, the mastermind behind 'Team Jorge',
a covert unit that specialises in hacking and disinformation.
For two decades, Hanan’s real identity has remained secret.
He operates in the shadows using an alias – "Jorge".
Now a joint investigation by the Guardian and Forbidden Stories can reveal who he is,
where he’s worked and how he manipulates elections for money.
So the disinformation industry is a relatively new phenomenon
which effectively distorts reality and spreads online propaganda.
It is usually done by states themselves or by mercenaries for hire
who work for private clients or for the governments themselves.
Almost always this is done covertly.
To expose this disinformation unit,
reporters went undercover as prospective clients who wanted to delay an election in Africa.
In six hours of secretly recorded meetings,
Hanan and his Israel-based team were filmed demonstrating their services.
Hanan has corporate and political clients - and boasts about past and present jobs.
One of Team Jorge’s secret tools is a piece of software called AIMS,
which weaponises social media.
Hanan’s team control an army of more than 30,000 bots.
A bot is effectively a social media account that pretends to be human but isn't human.
It’s being controlled through automation.
Team Jorge’s bots or avatars
are by far one of the most sophisticated that we've ever seen.
The bots are multilayered and have corresponding accounts
on several other platforms much like a human being does.
Which is why when you look at it initially, it does appear to be a real person.
Our investigation pointed to Team Jorge’s work in countries all over the world.
Team Jorge also claim they can hack Telegram and Gmail.
We don’t know exactly how Hanan does the hack
but he claims to be exploiting vulnerabilities in the global signalling system SS7.
The Guardian has been leaked emails in which Hanan quotes fees of between
$400,000 and $600,000.
They also confirm that Team Jorge worked covertly
on the Nigerian presidential election in 2015.
Our investigation has exposed this hidden underworld of disinformation operations –
so the next time you’re scrolling through your phone, or casting a ballot,
ask yourself what information you’re acting on and who's really behind it.