Hacking Team breach
Verified: Documented in primary records or confirmed by reputable inquiry/reporting.
More than 400GB of internal documents, emails and source code from the Italian spyware vendor Hacking Team was published after a breach. The material included a list of the countries that bought its Da Vinci surveillance tool.
Confirmed
The BBC reported that a Hacking Team engineer confirmed the breach and said the company was working with police. Wired, BBC and the Electronic Frontier Foundation reported on the customer list and contracts, and the EFF noted that Citizen Lab had already identified 21 government users.
Claimed, disputed or not established
The company said it does not sell to blacklisted or repressive governments; The Guardian's first report said the documents suggested otherwise "if genuine". Statements inside emails are the staff's own.
Reported impact
Increased scrutiny of the commercial spyware trade and of export controls.
Sources (opened in a new tab)
- BBC News: hackers steal data from surveillance company ↗https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33409594
- Wired: Hacking Team breach shows a global spying firm run amok ↗https://www.wired.com/2015/07/hacking-team-breach-shows-global-spying-firm-run-amok/
- The Guardian: Hacking Team hacked ↗https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/06/hacking-team-hacked-firm-sold-spying-tools-to-repressive-regimes-documents-claim
- EFF: Hacking Team leaks reveal spyware industry's growth ↗https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/07/hacking-team-leaks-reveal-spyware-industrys-growth
Connected
- Related leaks: FinFisher / Gamma Group documents · Intellexa Leaks: Predator spyware operations
- Case board · Timeline (2015) · Document vault · How we verify leaks
This page describes and cites public reporting. It does not host or link to leaked files, and it names no private individuals.