Hacking Team has suffered a hack of its own, with hackers reportedly stealing more than 400GB of data from the company’s internal network. The Italian company is one of the premiere sellers of surveillance software in the world and the company’s software has been used by intelligence agencies across the globe.
The security breach is a considerable black eye for a company that prides itself on the security measures it sells to governments worldwide. Security experts are now questioning how many countries would continue doing business with the company, given the seriousness of the breach.
The stolen data was first published by the hackers on Hacking Team’s own Twitter account. The hackers changed the name of the account to “Hacked Team” before posting the information.
The reasons why the data was stolen remains unclear, but it has already been widely shared online. Internal files, email messages, software source code, and lists of passwords and login details for client sites were all revealed through the breach.
Part of the data stolen from Hacking Team includes a list of the countries that have bought Da Vinci, Hacking Team’s main surveillance tool. The countries on the list include Azerbaijan, Chile, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Sudan.
The data also includes emails that suggest that intelligence agencies around the world are using Da Vinci to spy on journalists and activists. Hacking Team was recently named as one of the “enemies of the internet” by human rights group Reporters Without Borders because its products are used by countries without a “good record on democracy and human rights.”
Hacking Team engineer Christian Pozzi confirmed the breach on his Twitter account. He posted: “We are awake. The people responsible for this will be arrested. We are working with the police at the moment.” Shortly after, Mr. Pozzi’s Twitter account was deleted. Hacking Team’s website is also currently offline.
The individuals who carried out the attack on Hacking Team have not yet been uncovered. Hacking Team said it was working with police to track down the culprits.
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