002.2: PhineasFisher | Hacking Team

Topics:

1. Introduction to PhineasFisher and Hacking Team

• A brief recap of part one and its focus on Gamma Group.

• Overview of PhineasFisher’s most notorious hack on Hacking Team in 2015.

• The hack exposed over 400GB of internal data, shedding light on the company’s shady dealings.

2. The Hacking Team Leak

• A detailed description of Hacking Team’s activities and their flagship product, Remote Control System (RCS).

• Impact of the leaked data, including emails, client lists, and source code.

• Hacking Team’s role in supplying spyware to authoritarian regimes and the ethical implications.

3. The Global Impact and Reactions

• The Italian government’s response: revoking Hacking Team’s export license.

• The EU’s reclassification of spyware as dual-use goods, complicating exports.

• Media coverage and public reaction, including detailed reports by Citizen Lab and others.

4. PhineasFisher’s Tactics and Motivation

• Technical aspects of the hack: exploiting vulnerabilities, social engineering, and infrastructure setup.

• PhineasFisher’s manifesto: critique of modern hacker culture and the call to use hacking as a tool for justice.

• The personal risk and the broader message of fighting against oppression through cyber means.

5. Aftermath and Lessons Learned

• The fallout for Hacking Team: damaged reputation, loss of business, and increased scrutiny.

• The broader implications for the commercial spyware industry and its regulation.

• Reflections on the ethical considerations of hacktivism and the ongoing debate about surveillance and privacy.

  Show Notes

• Pegasus: How a Spy in Your Pocket Threatens the End of Privacy, Dignity, and Democracy

• Cult of the Dead Cow

• Stats On Stats Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/@StatsOnStats

• Iran and Saudi Arabia History

• https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323997004578641993388259674

• https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/hack-back-subcowmandante-marcos-phineas-fisher-hack-back-a-diy-guide-hacking-team

• https://dohaherald.com/2023/04/28/buildup-resumed-at-suspected-chinese-military-site-in-uae-leak-says/
  

• https://www.theverge.com/2013/9/13/4723610/meet-hacking-team-the-company-that-helps-police-hack-into-computers

• https://citizenlab.ca/2012/10/backdoors-are-forever-hacking-team-and-the-targeting-of-dissent/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BClen_movement#:~:text=The%20G%C3%BClen%20or%20Hizmet%20movement,G%C3%BClen's%20religious%20discourse%20(oration).

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k9zzk/hacking-team-hacker-phineas-fisher-has-gotten-away-with-it

• https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/government-releases-new-court-opinions-highlighting-further-abuse-of-warrantless-fisa-surveillance-program

• https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/28/government-buying-your-data-00143742#:~:text=The%20tipster%20told%20Tau%20the,in%20the%20U.S.%20and%20abroad.

• https://theintercept.com/2015/07/07/leaked-documents-confirm-hacking-team-sells-spyware-repressive-countries/

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/neavnm/hacking-team-new-owner-starting-from-scratch

• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-10-10/spyware-leaves-trail-to-beaten-activist-through-microsoft-flaw

• https://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-turkish-religious-scholar-fethullah-gulen-funding-movement-abroad-through-us-charter-schools/
  

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/11/hacking-team-hack-state-surveillance-human-rights

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7wbnd/hacking-team-is-dead

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/qv7y8m/vigilante-hacker-phineas-fisher-denies-working-for-the-russian-government

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/j5d53b/prosecutor-closes-hacking-team-investigation

• https://www.vice.com/en/article/j5d53b/prosecutor-closes-hacking-team-investigation