Over the last few decades, several mysterious hackers have captured the public’s imagination, but none quite like Phineas Fisher. A decade after their most famous hack, Phineas remains, by most accounts, the most prolific and public hacker never to have been caught.
As part of our series on the biggest cybersecurity mysteries of all time, we’re delving into the enigma of Phineas, the hacktivist who hacked controversial spyware makers FinFisher and Hacking Team. The latter, an Italian startup, was among the first to turn government spyware into a viable global business, paving the way for spyware makers such as the Israeli NSO Group. Phineas’ hack against Hacking Team eventually led to the startup’s demise years later.
Read more…
Source: TechCrunch News
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Second Catalan politician says phone was targeted by spyware
July 14, 2020
A second prominent member of Catalan’s pro-independence movement has revealed he was warned that his mobile phone was targeted using spyware. The development is likely to bolster calls for an investigation into the possible use of hacking technology by Spanish authorities. Ernest Maragall, an MP in the regional parliament and a former member of the European parliament ...
- Israel court rejects calls to revoke NSO Group’s spy software export licence
July 13, 2020
A court in Tel Aviv has rejected a ruling to order Israel to revoke the export license of the NSO Group, the country’s largest surveillance company, whose software has reportedly been used by governments to spy on dissidents and human rights activists. Judge Rachel Lavi Barkai ruled that Amnesty International and 30 human rights activists, who ...
- New Android Spyware Tools Emerge in Widespread Surveillance Campaign
July 1, 2020
Researchers have uncovered a surveillance campaign, dating back to at least 2013, which has used a slew of Android surveillanceware tools to spy on the Uyghur ethnic minority group. The campaign uses three never-before-seen Android surveillanceware tools, dubbed SilkBean, GoldenEagle and CarbonSteal, and one previously disclosed tool, DoubleAgent. The purpose of these tools is to gather and ...
- Android ‘ActionSpy’ Malware Targets Turkic Minority Group
June 12, 2020
Researchers have discovered a new Android spyware, dubbed ActionSpy, targeting victims across Tibet, Turkey and Taiwan. The spyware is distributed either via watering-hole websites or fake websites. Researchers believe ActionSpy is being used in ongoing campaigns to target Uyghur victims. The Uyghurs, a Turkic minority ethnic group affiliated with Central and East Asia, have previously been targeted in spyware attacks. Though ...
- NSO Group Impersonates Facebook Security Team to Spread Spyware — Report
May 22, 2020
According to an investigative journalist team, the Israeli authors of the infamous Pegasus mobile spyware, NSO Group, have been using a spoofed Facebook login page, crafted to look like an internal Facebook security team portal, to lure victims in. The news comes as Facebook alleges that NSO Group has been using U.S.-based infrastructure to launch espionage ...
- This powerful Android malware stayed hidden for years, infecting tens of thousands of smartphones
May 14, 2020
A carefully managed hacking and espionage campaign is infecting smartphones with a potent form of Android malware, providing those behind it with total control of the device, while also remaining completely hidden from the user. Mandrake spyware abuses legitimate Android functions to help gain access to everything on the compromised device in attacks that can gather ...