Disgruntled Employee Steals Data From Smartphone Hacking Group And Tries To Resell It

NSO Group Technologies, an Israeli cyber intelligence firm known for its spying capabilities, recently had the tables turned on them by a disgruntled employee. NSO Group sells malware to governments and law enforcement agencies interested in accessing smartphone data. Motherboard reports one of NSO’s spyware products called “Pegasus,” among other data and products were stolen by a 38-year-old employee facing termination. The employee then put Pegasus up for sale on the Dark Web for $50 million in cryptocurrency. The sale of Pegasus was discovered and stopped before a transaction occurred.

A spokesperson for NSO Group claims “…no IP or company materials have been shared with any third party or otherwise leaked, and no customer data or information was compromised.”

Two years ago, Pegasus came to fame by exploiting a system weakness allowing attackers to access and steal tons of data from iPhone and Android users. By sending users an innocent-looking message with a link, clicking on the link released the Pegasus malware that stole most of their data. Passwords, calls, messages, including log-ins from apps like Facebook, Gmail, WhatsApp, Skype, and others were stolen. It’s not just random users who were attacked. An indictment filed by Israeli authorities alleges the stolen NSO tools were also used by the Israeli armed forces.

Attackers stealing intelligence and tools related to government agencies is nothing new. In the summer of 2016, a hacking group called “Shadow Brokers” posted software tools online from a cache of hacking weapons used by the US government. In particular, those tools were allegedly used by the National Security Agency (NSA), a part of the US Department of Defense. The NSA monitors and collects data for intelligence and counterintelligence on a global scale. Just last year, hackers using those stolen NSA tools unleashed a global ransomware attack on more than 74 countries. It’s the largest global ransomware attack to date.

Staying one step ahead of cyberattacks is a challenge for government agencies as well as everyday users. All the attacks mentioned have one thing in common – they all used simple hacking techniques like infected links and email phishing attacks. Having national intelligence stolen or even having your own passwords and financial data hacked is scary on many levels. It’s clear that government agencies everywhere looking to protect their tools have their work cut out for them.