An obscure IT firm from Delhi called BellTroX InfoTech Services has allegedly been running ‘hack for hire’ services to help clients spying on over 10,000 email accounts over a period of seven years.
BellTroX InfoTech Services operating from a small room in a west-Delhi had targeted high-level email accounts including those of European government officials, gambling tycoons in the Bahamas, and big-time investors in the United States including equity giant KKR and Muddy Waters, Reuters reported.
Other targets of the company include judges based in South Africa, politicians in Mexico, lawyers based in France, environmental groups and journalists from the US.
BellTroX targeted its victims with malicious emails, some imitating colleagues or relatives while others disguising as graphic notifications to unsubscribe from pornography websites, the report said.
Toronto-based Internet watchdog Citizen Lab had spent over two years investigating the Delhi firm’s hacking operations.
"This is one of the largest spy-for-hire operations ever exposed," said Citizen Lab researcher John Scott-Railton as quoted by the report.
Reuters also reviewed what was essentially a “digital hit list” based on cached data with the firm’s targets from 2013 to 2020.
The firm’s operations targeting American victims are under investigation by US law enforcement however, the US Justice Department had declined to comment as per the report. The forms founder who had been declared a fugitive in 2017 after a 2015 hacking case being investigated by the US denied any wrongdoing, it said.
Thank you for being a loyal user of Portfolio.
Portfolio will be a paid section hereon.
Please Subscribe to get access to one of our early bird packs.
Or click on Free Trial to get 14 days free trial.
What You'll Get
-
Web + Mobile
Access exclusive content of the Hindu Businessline across desktops, tablet and mobile device.
-
Exclusive Portfolio and Investment Advice, Banking, Lifestyle and Specials
Get diverse set of perspectives from our trusted experts on Portfolio, Banking, Economy, Environment and others.
-
Ad free experience
Experience cleaner site with zero ads and faster load times.
-
Personalised dashboard
Customize your preference and get a personalized recommendation of stories based on your interest.
Published on
June 10, 2020
A letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.
Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.
In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.
We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.
But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.
I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.
A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!
Support Quality Journalism
