HackingTeam

HackingTeam
IndustryInformation technology
Founded2003
FoundersDavid Vincenzetti, Valeriano Bedeschi
Defunct2020
FateDissolved
Headquarters
Milan
,
Italy
ProductsSoftware (IT-Security)
BrandsHackingTeam
WebsiteHackingTeam.it(offline)

Hacking Team was a Milan-based information technology company that sold offensive intrusion and surveillance capabilities to governments, law enforcement agencies and corporations.[1] Its "Remote Control Systems" enable governments and corporations to monitor the communications of internet users, decipher their encrypted files and emails, record Skype and other Voice over IP communications, and remotely activate microphones and camera on target computers.[2] The company has been criticized for providing these capabilities to governments with poor human rights records,[3] though HackingTeam states that they have the ability to disable their software if it is used unethically.[4][5] The Italian government has restricted their licence to do business with countries outside Europe.[6]

HackingTeam employs around 40 people in its Italian office, and has subsidiary branches in Annapolis, Washington, D.C., and Singapore.[7] Its products are in use in dozens of countries across six continents.[8]

  1. ^ Batey, Angus (24 November 2011). "The spies behind your screen". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Enemies of the Internet: HackingTeam". Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  3. ^ Marczak, Bill; Gaurnieri, Claudio; Marquis-Boire, Morgan; Scott-Railton, John (17 February 2014). "Mapping HackingTeam's "Untraceable" Spyware". Citizen Lab. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014.
  4. ^ Kopfstein, Janus (10 March 2014). "Hackers Without Borders". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  5. ^ Marquis-Boire, Morgan; Gaurnieri, Claudio; Scott-Railton, John; Kleemola, Katie (24 June 2014). "Police Story: HackingTeam's Government Surveillance Malware". Citizen Lab. University of Toronto. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Human Rights Watch (25 March 2014). "They Know Everything We Do" Archived 3 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  8. ^ Jeffries, Adrianne (13 September 2013). "Meet HackingTeam, the company that helps the police hack you". The Verge. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2014.