Shubhangi Palve
When people hear the name Thales, they usually think of fighter jets, radar, and electronic warfare. The French defense giant is best known for providing the electronics backbone of the Rafale, a fighter jet that has become a symbol of France’s aerospace industry.
But a new investigation by Amnesty International shows that Thales is also quietly connected to something far less celebrated – Pakistan’s notorious digital firewall.
According to Amnesty’s report “Shadows of Control,” Pakistan’s mass surveillance programs are not homegrown. They rely on a hidden supply chain that stretches across Germany, France, the UAE, China, Canada, and the United States.
The year-long investigation was conducted with Paper Trail Media, DER STANDARD, Follow the Money, The Globe and Mail, Justice For Myanmar, InterSecLab, and the Tor Project.
Together, they tracked how Pakistani authorities obtained advanced technology through a hidden supply chain of surveillance and censorship tools.
At the heart of this system sit two programs: the Web Monitoring System (WMS) and the Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). Together, they form the backbone of Pakistan’s internet surveillance architecture.
Building Pakistan’s Firewall
Pakistan’s national firewall, known as the Web Monitoring System (WMS), has gone through several iterations. The first version, set up in 2018, was built on technology from the Canadian company Sandvine, now operating as AppLogic Networks.
For a few years, Sandvine provided the backbone of the system. Trade records even show that as early as 2017, the company had shipped equipment to at least three Pakistani firms with government ties: Inbox Technologies, SN Skies Pvt Ltd, and A Hamson Inc. But when Sandvine pulled out in 2023, Pakistan quickly looked elsewhere.
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