(Image: Hacking Team)
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THE hunters become the hunted.
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On Monday hackers released what they claim is 400 GB of internal documents stolen from Hacking Team, an Italian company that sells surveillance tools to intelligence agencies.
The leaked documents suggest that Hacking Team marketed its products to a wide range of governments 鈥� including a number of repressive regimes.
鈥淭he invoices are fascinating,鈥� says Christopher Soghoian, at the American Civil Liberties Union. 鈥淗acking Team has been selling its software to governments like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Vietnam and Ethiopia 鈥� a number of governments with documented histories of abusing human rights.鈥�
聯The firm has been selling software to governments with histories of abusing human rights聰
Soghoian says the documents show that government agencies appear to be able to subscribe for as little as $50,000 a year, buying information that would let them install surveillance programmes remotely onto target computers.
In a statement, company spokesman Eric Rabe disputed some of the reports around the hack but confirmed it had taken place.鈥漌e are investigating to determine the extent of this attack and specifically what has been taken,鈥� he said.
Edin Omanovic, at Privacy International, said the leak shows that the trade in surveillance technology should be more tightly regulated.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪py firm hacked鈥�