The service has operations in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as several other countries. BackgroundĮthiopian Satellite Television Service 14 is an independent satellite television, radio, and online news media outlet run by members of the Ethiopian diaspora.
#Critical ops reloaded ios software#
In spite of these indications to Hacking Team that RCS was deployed against ESAT journalists in December 2013, our current research suggests that Hacking Team RCS software utilized by the attacker remained in operation and received support - at a minimum, in the form of software updates - through November 2014. 10 Additionally, the Washington Post, 11 Human Rights Watch, 12 and the Citizen Lab 13 have all contacted Hacking Team about the case.
The December 2013 attack on ESAT journalists and Citizen Lab’s research regarding that attack were reported on in the media, including on the front page of the Washington Post. The November and December 2014 attacks against ESAT, however, call into question the effectiveness of this policy in preventing use of RCS in a manner that undermines human rights. 8 It further notes that it monitors news for “expressed concerns about human rights abuses by customers or potential customers,” and that when “questions raised about the possible abuse of HT software in human rights cases,” it will investigate and “take appropriate action.” 9 7 In its customer policy, Hacking Team encourages direct reporting to the company of apparent misuse of its technology. Hacking Team (HT) is a Milan-based developer of “offensive security” technology. Notably, the attacker appears to be the same entity as that involved in a December 2013 attack - also incorporating RCS - against ESAT journalists based in Belgium and the US, on which Citizen Lab previously reported. Our research suggests the involvement of a governmental attacker that may be the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA).
5 This report details these attempts to infect the journalists’ computers with RCS and monitor their activity. In November and December 2014, several Washington DC-based journalists with the Ethiopian Satellite Television Service (ESAT) were targeted, unsuccessfully, with what appear to be two new versions of Hacking Team’s RCS spyware. 4 The research findings documented in this report suggest that Hacking Team may have continued to provide updated versions of its spyware to the same attacker, despite reports of use of the spyware against journalists. Hacking Team has a customer policy concerning the human rights implications of its products, 3 and claims it investigates and may take action in response to reported cases of abuse.The attacker may be the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA). We link the governmental attacker to Ethiopia.This report details the events of November 5 and 10 and December 19, 2014, when the same attacker again targeted ESAT journalists based in the United States with what appear to be two updated versions of Hacking Team’s RCS spyware.On February 12, 2014, Citizen Lab published a report 1 documenting how journalists at the Ethiopian Satellite Television Service (ESAT) were targeted by a governmental attacker in December 2013, with what appeared to be Hacking Team’s Remote Control System (RCS) spyware.Read the statement by Human Rights Watch.