Hacker For Hire: Indian Hacking Companies Found To Hack Emails, Phones Of VIPs For A Fee
WhiteInt was found functioning from a fourth-floor apartment in Gurugram, Haryana, led by a 31-year-old, who is an occasional TV cybersecurity pundit and also possesses a day job at the Indian office of a British accountancy firm.
Several ¡®hack-for-hire¡¯ companies are operating across India, hacking into emails and phones of VIPs and states for a fee by private investigators across the world, revealed an undercover investigation, as per a PTI report.
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Conducted by The Sunday Times and Bureau of Investigative Journalism, these hackers were found to be working for autocratic states, British lawyers and their wealthy clients.
As per the investigation, which was based on leaked documents and undercover work in India that was conducted earlier this year, journalists posing as former MI6 agents turned private investigators claimed that one group (operating under the name WhiteInt) managed to gain control of the computers owned by Pakistan¡¯s politicians, generals and diplomats, and was able to secretly hear their private conversations, reportedly on the order and command of the Indian secret services.
Targets on the leaked database accessed by investigators included British lawyers, and wealthy individuals in cases in London¡¯s High Court, including UK¡¯s richest Indian-origin Hinduja family.
As per the report, WhiteInt was found functioning from a fourth-floor apartment in Gurugram, Haryana, led by a 31-year-old, who is an occasional TV cybersecurity pundit and also possesses a day job at the Indian office of a British accountancy firm.
The organisation has been in existence for seven years and has been hired by British private detectives to steal the email inboxes of their targets using ¡®phishing¡¯ techniques. They also make use of malicious software which gains control of the computer cameras and mics, allowing them to see and hear their victims. They charge around $3,000 to $20,000, based on the level of breach.
In a conversation with undercover journalists, he was quoted saying, "I offer access to closed source information of email and computers of the PoI (person of interest) anywhere across the globe... an average timeline is around 20 to 30 days.¡±
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However, when he was approached by the team last month, he claimed that he didn¡¯t know some individuals on the database and even denied hacking others.
The firm is now defunct and allegedly has secretly established a lucrative sideline taking cash from clients around the world to hack individuals. These clients reportedly include corporate intelligence companies based in Britain.
The report concluded by stating that the use of the Indian underworld to breach private email accounts and phones has become a common practice that¡¯s been happening for years now. They've done so with little fear that they¡¯d be prosecuted for breaking the nation¡¯s laws.
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