ISLAMABAD: An India-based “hack-for-hire” gang snooped on Pakistani politicians, generals and diplomats among other targets in various parts of the world, a report by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Sunday Times revealed on Saturday.
The investigation revealed the contents of a leaked database from inside one of the major gangs of hackers, targeting businesses, politicians and journalists.
It showed the criminals targeted private email accounts of more than 100 victims on behalf of investigators working for autocratic states, lawyers and their wealthy clients.
“The gang seized control of computers owned by Pakistan’s politicians, generals and diplomats and eavesdropped on their private conversations, apparently at the behest of the Indian secret services,” the report read.
“The most famous Pakistan-related target was Pervez Musharraf, the former president of the country.”
On January 10, an Indian hacker, Aditya Jain, was tasked with breaking into the email account of Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, the then Pakistan information minister in Imran Khan’s cabinet, according to the exposé.
“Jain’s team used malware to take over his computers and targeted the country’s senior generals as well as its embassies in Beijing, Shanghai and Katmandu in a similar way,” it said.
Other targets of the gang included Switzerland’s president and his deputy, BBC’s political editor Chris Mason, UK politician Philip Hammond as well as a Britain-based oligarch fleeing Vladimir Putin, according to the report.
“Michel Platini, the former head of European football, was hacked shortly before he was due to talk to French police about corruption allegations relating to the 2022 World Cup,” it said.
“The hackers broke into the email inboxes of Formula One motor racing bosses Ruth Buscombe, the British head of race strategy at the Alfa Romeo team, and Otmar Szafnauer, who was chief executive of the Aston Martin team.”
But this gang was not the only one based in India, according to the report. The undercover reporters also made contact with a series of Indian hackers who were secretly filmed speaking openly about their illicit work and the underground industry.