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Leaked emails show Irish Defence Forces held talks with controversial hacking company

Hacking Team sells viruses to repressive governments, but the Defence Forces say they never bought anything.

90361108 Photocall Ireland Photocall Ireland

MEMBERS OF THE Irish Defence Forces appear to have discussed “purchasing solutions” from Hacking Team, a controversial Italian company which sells spyware to law enforcement agencies and governments throughout the world.

An apparent hack of the company led, last Sunday, to massive quantities of internal emails, invoices and source code being uploaded to the internet and widely shared online, including client lists that feature some of the world’s most repressive regimes.

Among the 400 gigabytes of data were a number of emails which appear to show Irish Defence Forces staff engaged in conversations with a Hacking Team “account manager”, from the summer of 2012 until last month.

TheJournal.ie sent a detailed list of questions to the Defence Forces, for this article.

A spokesperson would not address most of these, but did state that the Defence Forces had never bought anything from Hacking Team.

For operational security reasons the Defence Forces cannot comment on specific elements of your query, however the Defence Forces confirms that no services were purchased from the company in question.

The company has come under fire in recent years, and this week in particular, after the leaking of a client list that includes repressive regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Russia, the UAE and Ethiopia.

It also appears to have been selling “spyware” to the government of Sudan, during a UN embargo, and while that regime was listed by the US as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

htad Excerpt from a Hacking Team ad. Hacking Team Hacking Team

Hacking Team sells a number of products and services, including viruses which enable state agencies to hack into “target” devices.

This spyware allows governments, police and intelligence services to remotely take control of devices anywhere, monitor incoming and outgoing emails, browsing activity, Skype calls, and even remotely switch on webcams and microphones.

In a brochure for the Galileo “remote control system”, the Italian firm boasts that it can help clients:

Take control of your targets and monitor them regardless of encryption and mobility. It doesn’t matter if you are after an Android phone or a Windows computer: you can monitor all the devices.
Remote Control System is invisible to the user, evades antivirus and firewalls, and doesn’t affect the devices’ performance or battery life.

‘Purchasing a solution’

It is not known which Hacking Team products or services were discussed or considered by the Irish Defence Forces, but in June 2012 a staff member appears to have met an account manager in Prague.

On 29 June, the Defence Forces staff member emailed Hacking Team to request a follow-up meeting in October, noting “I will be accompanied by my boss.”

HTIDF1

Towards the end of 2013, another in-person meeting seems to have taken place, where “purchasing a solution” was discussed, and plans were made to begin that process by the spring of 2014.

The staff member who attended the 2012 meeting, and a Defence Forces Commandant, were both party to an email in April 2014, which includes a proposal from Hacking Team for a further meeting to take place in Dublin.

HTIDF2

Discussions continued through to the end of 2014, when the Defence Forces staff member who appears to have been leading talks with Hacking Team, proposed a meeting at this summer’s ISS World Europe conference, again in Prague.

It was suggested that the Italian account manager would be “brought up to speed” then, and meet “some new friends.”

Copied on this email was a third, lower-ranking Defence Forces staff member, involved with the Communications and Information Services Corps (CIS).

HTIDF3

In what appears to be the latest email, sent on 28 May 2015, the same Defence Forces staff member looks ahead to June’s ISS Conference, CCing the same CIS staff member, as well as Hacking Team’s sales division.

HTIDF4

The ISS World Europe conference is run by Virginia-based company TeleStrategies, and claims to be “the world’s largest gathering of European Law Enforcement, Intelligence and Homeland Security Analysts…”

ISS World Programs present the methodologies and tools for Law Enforcement, Public Safety and Government Intelligence Communities in the fight against drug trafficking, cyber money laundering, human trafficking, terrorism and other criminal activities…

This year’s event, held between 2 and 4 June, featured dozens of seminars and presentations, including three by Hacking Team on subjects like “offensive surveillance” and “intruding personal devices.”

TheJournal.ie asked the Defence Forces which products or services were the subject of their discussions, but “for operational security reasons,” did not receive clarification.

‘Enemies of the Internet’

clients_revised_copy_0 EFF EFF

The software sold by Hacking Team is legal in and of itself. However, the way governments and law enforcement use those products is largely governed by specific laws, which vary from country to country.

The company has faced intense ethical scrutiny, both from privacy advocates, and human rights groups, concerned with the appearance of sales to repressive and brutal regimes around the world.

In 2012, Reporters Without Borders listed Hacking Team as one of five corporate “Enemies of the Internet.

Despite consistent claims by the company that it did not sell products to countries “blacklisted” by the UN, NATO and EU, Sunday’s document leak included convincing evidence to the contrary.

As noted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a US-based digital civil liberties group, Hacking Team appears to have been selling its Remote Control System (described above) to governments in Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and 31 other nations.

Despite a UN embargo on Sudan, Hacking Team appears to have been selling spyware to the regime, which was also listed by the US as a “state sponsor of terrorism” at the time.

The UN warned Hacking Team that the software involved was “ideally suited to support military electronic intelligence,” and that they would therefore like to investigate whether this constituted a breach of the embargo – an extremely serious crime under international law.

A lawyer for Hacking Team argued in an internal email that:

If one sells sandwiches to Sudan, he is not subject, as far as my knowledge goes, to the law. [Hacking Team] should be treated like a sandwich vendor.

However, under pressure from the UN and Italian authorities, Hacking Team eventually suspended sales to Sudan in November 2014.

TheJournal.ie requested comment from Hacking Team, but did not receive any response to a detailed list of questions. 

h/t @beyourownreason

Read: State surveillance – How Gardaí and others can secretly monitor you>

Read: The Government is thinking up new ways to stop you from being hacked>

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31 Comments
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    Mute Darach Malone
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    Jul 9th 2015, 12:25 PM

    So Hacking Team, a hacking company, were hacked. You couldn’t make it up.

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    Mute Cram Wood
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    Jul 9th 2015, 2:00 PM

    Well lads and ladies at the Journal, you forgot to include under your “repressive regimes”, the fact that Hacking Team also sold their products to every western national government and alphabet agency.
    Try and get it right next time.

    158
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    Mute Mickey Nice
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    Jul 9th 2015, 4:21 PM

    HA! Cram, do you honestly expect these “journalists” to actually be able to do proper journalism?

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Jul 9th 2015, 8:40 PM

    Cram,
    Are you looking to justify internal espionage?

    22
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    Mute Proinsias Ó Foghlú
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    Jul 9th 2015, 12:30 PM

    Why would anyone be surprised by this? I would have surprised if they were not talking, after all they are our defence forces!

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    Mute Veron Skvortsova
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    Jul 9th 2015, 6:42 PM

    Defending a rotten mafia state from the people.

    35
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    Mute Mark Ryan
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    Jul 9th 2015, 12:44 PM

    Good to hear the defence forces are upskilling their knowledge Base.

    198
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    Mute James Dunne
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    Jul 9th 2015, 12:41 PM

    Presumably it was the military intelligence branch of the Defence Forces (G2) that was engaged in discussions with Hacking Team so it’s not exactly earth shattering that they are not releasing details.

    183
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    Mute john
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    Jul 9th 2015, 12:49 PM

    I don’t know about you guys but I’m turning Windows Firewall on right now!

    135
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    Mute Luther Cooper
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    Jul 9th 2015, 1:00 PM

    I just Lol’d!!!

    55
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    Mute Kevin Higgins
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    Jul 9th 2015, 1:53 PM

    “hahahahah ” says the hacker

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    Mute Paul Roche
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    Jul 9th 2015, 8:41 PM

    Does anyone know how to get rid of those annoying messages in IE6?

    19
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    Mute John Reese
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    Jul 9th 2015, 2:04 PM

    Nothing is private on the Internet, everyone should remember that.

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    Mute Colm Flaherty
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    Jul 9th 2015, 1:40 PM

    What helps the rightfully private, helps the anonymous criminal.
    What helps justice prosecute the criminal, harms the rightfully private.
    There is no right side here.

    35
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    Mute Pearse Mc Mullen
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    Jul 9th 2015, 1:13 PM

    I`ve been reading about Hacking team getting hacked for a few days now, the ironic headline originally got my attention, Hilarious stuff, Altogether it looks like they went through it and hit the mother load.
    Hackers have made 400GB of client files, contracts, financial documents, and internal emails, some as recent as 2015, publicly available for download.

    http://leaksource.info/2015/07/07/hacking-team-hacked-400gb-data-dump-of-internal-documents-emails-source-code-from-notorious-spyware-dealer/

    33
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    Mute orla
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    Jul 9th 2015, 8:10 PM

    I quite remember last month on the Journal, when the government boasted, that they could spy on anyone on the internet, I didn’t believe it, but now I think they must have the equipment to do just that!

    27
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    Mute Tony Canning
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    Jul 9th 2015, 8:20 PM

    It’s naive to think that it’s not happening. But that takes nothing away from the fact that it should only happen in very specific circumstances..

    33
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    Mute John Fergus
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    Jul 9th 2015, 4:32 PM

    is anyone really surprised by this. i have to laugh at the irony of a hacking company getting hacked.
    we turn a blind eye to the US imperialist war machine using Shannon airport to transport equipment, munitions and personnel and are shocked at this.
    then there the war propaganda of the ‘Enemies of the Internet’ map. notice how the US, Israel and China are not listed in bright red but countries that NATO has a problem with are.

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    Mute ross mcgee
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    Jul 9th 2015, 5:33 PM

    Quick look, a tree, hang on to your tinfoil hat and go hug it! Leftist bullsh*t like this makes me sick.

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    Mute John Fergus
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    Jul 9th 2015, 6:39 PM

    what part of my post would give someone the impression that i am on the left in politics? i am far more centred. where did the tree hugger jab come from? since when doe making reasonable observations get you labelled as a conspiracy theorist.
    its f&ckn&ts like you that make me sick.

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    Mute John Devoy
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    Jul 9th 2015, 9:49 PM

    Try reading the article below. It is a conspiracy allright.

    http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-defence-forces-hacking-team-2206527-Jul2015/#comment-3991152

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    Mute ross mcgee
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    Jul 10th 2015, 11:41 AM

    Everytime I see this kind of reasonable observation:
    “US imperialist war machine using Shannon airport”
    In my mind another tree gets hugged.

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    Mute Tony Canning
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    Jul 9th 2015, 8:19 PM

    So the Irish Defence force explored something and decided against it – meanwhile Iran provide their bought in expertise to Assad to form the Syrian Electronic Army which monitors ordinary people and results in unjust detention, torture and murder…

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    Mute Steph M.
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    Jul 10th 2015, 2:23 AM

    Never said they decided against it. Just decided against buying off “Hacking Team”. Dat name tho.

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    Mute don lavery
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    Jul 9th 2015, 11:26 PM

    Just in case you people don’t realise – this page, comments etc will end up in a G-2 low level intelligence file.

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    Mute Ciaran Whyte
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    Jul 9th 2015, 5:02 PM

    Governments installing spyware to spy on other Governments and not expecting that same spyware to open up their own IT infrastructure to others…

    22
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    Mute Niall Lonergan
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    Jul 9th 2015, 11:28 PM

    I believe the government on this one. They are too thick to know what to do with a virus. One politician wants ‘firefox’ banned, another calls WiFi wiffy.

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    Mute John Devoy
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    Jul 9th 2015, 9:48 PM

    How to break the news to a democracy that they are being spied on by their own government?
    Use it to catch welfare cheats first and nobody can say anything. The rich get richer and the poor blame the poor.
    Soon we will live in a state with cameras in our homes.

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    Mute John Devoy
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    Jul 9th 2015, 9:49 PM
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    Mute Tony Canning
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    Jul 9th 2015, 11:33 PM

    Does the journal habitually bump stories they aren’t getting enough clickbait on? Or is there a reason that so many stories get shoved to the top?

    13
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    Mute Linda Dunne
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    Jul 9th 2015, 2:46 PM

    I can’t wait for Alan Shatter’s autobiography lololol Who knows … maybe that forty four million euros spent from 12/13 Defense Budget that was simply put down as “Other” [sic] was for the shopping list here …. hold on while I go get my tinfoil hat lol

    12
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