An obscure Indian company operated a scheme targeting non-profits, banks, politicians and journalists all over the world, a report says
A hack-for-hire group targeted thousands of people and hundreds of organizations across six continents for several years, according to a report by Citizen Lab. The internet watchdog, based at the University at Toronto, tied the ring, dubbed “Dark Basin”, with high confidence to an Indian company called BellTroX InfoTech Services.
Over the course of an investigation that began in 2017, Citizen Lab found that Dark Basin was hired to conduct espionage campaigns against the opponents of their clients involved in high-profile criminal cases, advocacy campaigns and public events. These included prosecutors, senior politicians, journalists, CEOs, and non-profits. “This is one of the largest spy-for-hire operations ever exposed,” said Citizen Lab researcher John Scott-Railton in a statement for Reuters.
A large cluster of victims were linked to the #ExxonKnew campaign, which dealt with the oil giant’s alleged knowledge of climate change for decades. Some of the prominent targets that consented to being named are the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Climate Investigations Center, Greenpeace and the Conservation Law Foundation. Per a New York Times report (paywalled), the expose has prompted a federal criminal investigation in the US.
Dark Basin utilized a range of techniques in its attacks, notably phishing emails. These were sent out from various accounts, including self-hosted and Gmail accounts. The group also employed 28 unique URL shorteners to obfuscate p ..
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