Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Surveillance Tech Firm Hacking Team Falls Victim to Hackers

    Written by

    Sean Michael Kerner
    Published July 7, 2015
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Italian cyber-security vendor Hacking Team, a company whose platform is aimed at helping government agencies hack and perform surveillance on others, ironically has been hacked itself.

      Hacking Team’s primary product is the Remote Control System (RCS), a software agent that resides on a target’s machine.

      “Evidence collection on monitored devices is stealth and transmission of collected data from the device to the RCS server is encrypted and untraceable,” the Hacking Team Website claims.

      Hacking Team’s Twitter feed was compromised on Sunday, July 5, and was the location the attacker first used to disclose the breach. The Hacking Team was able to regain control of its Twitter account on July 6. More damaging, however, is the public disclosure of 400GB of data on Hacking Team’s technology and operations.

      Hacking Team has denied the authenticity of the leaked files. Christian Pozzi, senior system and security engineer at Hacking Team, responded on Twitter about the breach early on July 7, before his own account was also hacked.

      Hacking Team is in the process of alerting its customers about the data breach, Pozzi said, adding that those who attacked Hacking Team are spreading falsehoods and malware.

      “It’s up to you what you would like to do, but be warned that the torrent file the attackers claim is clean has a virus,” Pozzi tweeted.

      While Pozzi is warning that the leaked files are not entirely legitimate, at least one technology organization is taking the risk seriously. Independent software developer Mike Conley tweeted out a request for anyone who was looking through the Hacking Team files to report any security bugs and vulnerabilities they may have been exploiting in Firefox.

      Mozilla Security Lead Dan Veditz responded that the first person to file any Hacking Team bugs for Firefox would get a Mozilla bug bounty. Mozilla has paid out more than $1.6 million in bounties to researchers that have reported security vulnerabilities.

      Security experts eWEEK spoke with were not surprised by the Hacking Team breach.

      “I would have thought that a company such as this would have gone to extreme measures to protect itself knowing that their data contained very secret information,” Andy Hayter, security evangelist from G DATA, told eWEEK. “It goes to show that anyone can be a target, be it an individual or company anywhere in the world.”

      Shawn Masters, vice president of solutions engineering at Novetta, said that vendors and experts in the cyber-world are all constantly under attack. Masters noted a few lessons that can be learned from the Hacking Team breach. “First, when you put yourself out there as a vendor, expert or actor in the cyber-world, you need to harden your defenses for the higher volume and quality of attacks,” Masters told eWEEK.” All employees need to understand the risks and make sure they are constantly looking for anything out of the ordinary.”

      Secondly, when an organization has data that might be damaging, to anyone, it is imperative to keep it under extra protection, Masters said. Every enterprise can point at data that should never be publicly revealed, and much of that data has no reason to be easily accessible from the Internet, or a user’s machine.

      “Organizations should look at data critically and judge when data needs to be handled differently,” Masters said. “An ounce of extra prevention can go a long way, but you can never fully apply it after the breach.”

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and writer for several leading IT business web sites.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×