WikiLeaks Exposes That Nigeria, 16 other Countries Use Controversial 'FinFisher' Surveillance Software
WikiLeaks published a batch of documents and files pertaining to the controversial surveillance technology company FinFisher on Monday, including a list of its customers and actual copies of its spyware.
The release, the fourth one in the WikiLeaks series dubbed Spy Files, is made mostly of files that were leaked by an unidentified hacker who breached FinFisher's corporate network in August.
In April of 2013, Citizen Lab identified 36 countries in which they found traces of FinFisher's digital infrastructure and technology. The researchers, however, warned that their map didn't necessarily reveal a list of FinFisher's customers.
But now, WikiLeaks claims to have an actual list of 17 alleged customers, such as police departments or intelligence agencies from Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Mongolia, Nigeria, Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, Slovakia, Qatar, South Africa and Vietnam.
FinFisher is a German company that makes surveillance software marketed to law-enforcement agencies. The software is designed to siphon off and intercept all kinds of data from a target's computer or cellphone, including Skype calls, emails, and chat conversations.
It made headlines for the first time in 2011, when protesters in Egypt uncovered documents indicating the security services of then-President Hosni Mubarak had purchased its products. Subsequent research has revealed that some repressive regimes around the world have used FinFisher software to spy on dissidents or human rights activists. These episodes have since put Western companies that sell hacking tools to such governments into the spotlight and sparked a debate over the legality of the sales.
In addition to the company's clients, Wikileaks has published actual copies of the software FinFisher sells to governments worldwide, in hopes security researchers can investigate further and build better defenses against these technologies. "This full data release will help the technical community build tools to protect people from FinFisher including by tracking down its command and control centers," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement accompanying the release.
The company has long maintained that it only sells its products to government agencies that use it for legitimate law-enforcement purposes. Researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, however, have previously uncovered examples of repressive regimes like those in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates using FinFisher to spy on dissidents and human rights activists.
Reached by phone at its headquarters, a FinFisher employee declined to comment for this story. "We don't give any interviews," he told Mashable.
Source/More information - Mashable.
The release, the fourth one in the WikiLeaks series dubbed Spy Files, is made mostly of files that were leaked by an unidentified hacker who breached FinFisher's corporate network in August.
In April of 2013, Citizen Lab identified 36 countries in which they found traces of FinFisher's digital infrastructure and technology. The researchers, however, warned that their map didn't necessarily reveal a list of FinFisher's customers.
But now, WikiLeaks claims to have an actual list of 17 alleged customers, such as police departments or intelligence agencies from Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Mongolia, Nigeria, Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, Slovakia, Qatar, South Africa and Vietnam.
FinFisher is a German company that makes surveillance software marketed to law-enforcement agencies. The software is designed to siphon off and intercept all kinds of data from a target's computer or cellphone, including Skype calls, emails, and chat conversations.
It made headlines for the first time in 2011, when protesters in Egypt uncovered documents indicating the security services of then-President Hosni Mubarak had purchased its products. Subsequent research has revealed that some repressive regimes around the world have used FinFisher software to spy on dissidents or human rights activists. These episodes have since put Western companies that sell hacking tools to such governments into the spotlight and sparked a debate over the legality of the sales.
In addition to the company's clients, Wikileaks has published actual copies of the software FinFisher sells to governments worldwide, in hopes security researchers can investigate further and build better defenses against these technologies. "This full data release will help the technical community build tools to protect people from FinFisher including by tracking down its command and control centers," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement accompanying the release.
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| WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange |
Reached by phone at its headquarters, a FinFisher employee declined to comment for this story. "We don't give any interviews," he told Mashable.
Source/More information - Mashable.
WikiLeaks Exposes That Nigeria, 16 other Countries Use Controversial 'FinFisher' Surveillance Software
Reviewed by The Niger Times
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12:30 pm
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Reviewed by The Niger Times
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12:30 pm
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Why am not surprised. Nigerian Government will now say it is for security reasons. Well that is what other country's Government will also say. There is no privacy on the Internet, that is what we all have to come in terms with.
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