US Hackers Aid UAE Spy on Media, Reuters Reports

guest · Apr 1, 2019

US Hackers Aid UAE Spy on Media, Reuters Reports
April 1, 2019
https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/us-hackers-aid-uae-spy-on-media-1/

With the aid of American hackers, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was able to spy on prominent figures in the Arab media and a BBC host, according to an exclusive Reuters report.

The revelations come only months after US contractors in the UAE were reportedly helping to spy on US citizens, according to a January report from Chris Bing, cybersecurity reporter at Reuters

“In the Spring of 2017, as America's closest gulf allies launched into conflict, blockading Qatar, Project Raven sprang into action. In this operation, a team of former American spies – turned mercenaries – directly undermined U.S. national security interests in the Middle East,” Bing tweeted today.
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guest · Sep 3, 2022

State Department debars ex-NSA cyber mercenaries who aided vast UAE surveillance operation
By Suzanne Smalley - August 31, 2022

The State Department has banned three former National Security Agency employees from working on any matters related to International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which regulates the sale of military technologies overseas, due to their involvement in helping the United Arab Emirates carry out a widespread surveillance campaign to spy on dissidents, journalists and politicians as well as U.S. companies.

The so-called disbarment for the former intelligence operatives will last at least three years, according to a State Department ruling released late last week.
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The agency’s settlement with Ryan Adams, Marc Baier and Daniel Gericke for alleged violations of State Department-administered ITAR is just the latest development in a scandal first revealed by Reuters in 2019. Adams, Baier and Gericke entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in September under which they admitted to their conduct and agreed to give up both their security clearances and $1.7 million.

Adams, Baier and Gericke worked in a secret hacking unit of the UAE-based cybersecurity firm DarkMatter, which paid former U.S. intelligence officers to help the UAE hack into phones of activists such as Mansoor. Former DarkMatter employees told Reuters that the hacking unit, known as “Project Raven,” also spied on U.S. citizens and companies.
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In September, CyberScoop reported that prosecutors alleged the men were responsible for two zero-click exploits that leveraged vulnerabilities in a U.S. tech company’s systems to break into millions of smartphones. The men also were accused of stealing documents and passwords from computers around the world.
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