Exxon’s Climate Opponents Were Infiltrated by Massive Hacking-for-Hire Operation

Charity of Rockefeller heirs among groups targeted by hackers; oil giant not accused of wrongdoing

Exxon Mobil’s oil refinery in Beaumont, Texas. Photo: BING GUAN/REUTERS

In the midst of perpetrating what federal prosecutors say was a massive corporate hacking campaign, Israeli private detective Aviram Azari in 2017 received welcome news.

A group of hackers in India wrote him to say they had successfully infiltrated the email and social-media accounts of a group of environmental activists campaigning against Exxon Mobil Corp.

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