Muench, said hes investigating whether the malicious software sent to activists was a demonstration. Google engineer finds finfisher spyware tracking political. Gamma referred questions to finfisher s german developer, martin muench. Cyber attacks on activists traced to finfisher spyware of. Mozilla to sue gamma group over offensive trademark. Researchers find germanmade spyware across globe news. Gamma international first entered the spotlight in april of 2011, when it was discovered that their finfisher software was given to egypts ssis. Researchers trace reach of germanmade spy software to. How two amateur sleuths looked for finspy software the. Turkmenistan and oman have been negotiating with a consortium of british, german and swiss companies to buy finfisher software to spy on phone calls and internet activity of unsuspecting targets, according to a new trove of documents just released by wikileaks, the global whistleblowing organization. Muench, a managing director at the company, said in an email that the company only sells its products to governments for the express purpose of monitoring criminals. Finfisher, also known as finspy, is surveillance software marketed by lench it solutions plc, which markets the spyware through law enforcement channels finfisher can be covertly installed on targets computers by exploiting security lapses in the update procedures of nonsuspect software. Finfisher lawful interception spyware found in ten. Finfisher spyware can control android, iphone and blackberry.
Martin muench, managing director of gamma international, poses for a photo in 2012. Muench did not return several emails seeking comment but, in a recent interview with german newspaper suddeutsche zeitung, he defended his work as part of the fight against crime. Munch, 31, is a developer of spy software for computers and smartphones. Software meant to fight crime is used to spy on dissidents. Introduction the right to privacy is protected by the mexican constitution, which establishes. Finfisher mobile spyware tracking political activists. The most frequent fields of use are against pedophiles, terrorists, organized crime, kidnapping and human trafficking, he said.
Crackdown on sale of uk spyware over fears of misuse by. Mozilla to sue gamma group over offensive trademark violation. Google engineer finds finfisher spyware tracking political dissidents. Malware researchers and human rights activists welcome the publication, g. Nsw police use hacking software to spy on computers and. A hacker claims to have hacked a network of the surveillance technology company gamma international and has published 40 gigabytes of internal data. Nov 28, 2012 muench said demonstration copies of the finfisher software must have been stolen. According to recent reporting, german federal police appear to have plans to purchase and use the finfisher suite of tools domestically within germany. Aug 31, 2012 the software proved to be the stuff of a spy film.
Finfisher, also known as finspy, is surveillance software sold by. Muench, who leads the finfisher product portfolio, is the managing director of the groups munichbased gamma international gmbh. Researchers look inside mobile variants of finfisher spy. These programs infect digital memory and pry into peoples virtual private lives. Finspy software is tracking political dissidents the new. London ap the discovery of a group of servers linked to an elusive espionage campaign is providing new details about a hightech piece of spy software. Thanks to his finfisher trojan, the police and secret services can. The company has been criticized by human rights organizations for selling these capabilities to. Muench said demonstration copies of the finfisher software must have been stolen. A screen to enter a password to a website is shown in ottawa on thursday july 22, 2010. I also wanted to ask muench about a code of conduct his company is. Finfisher servers would not respond in such a way and would not be able to be fingerprinted with such a technique, said martin j.
Turkmenistan and oman negotiated to buy spy software. The exchange began when i sent muench a query regarding a prospective story i was working on a followup to a netzpolitik article detailing documents showing german federal polices plans to use gammas finfisher a. Newsletter july 2011 confidential 14 3 upcoming exhibitions following are the exhibitions in which the finfisher team will be participating. Martin muench is a representative of gamma international, a company that sells advanced technical surveillance and monitoring solutions. Surveillance made in germany finfisherspionagesoftware. When asked by bloomberg about evidence that bahrain may have been using his spyware software, gammas martin muench. Everything you know is a lie finfisher spyware watching us all. Unsettling details of finfisher espionage software leak to the web. Jul 25, 2012 martin muench is a representative of gamma international, a company that sells advanced technical surveillance and monitoring solutions. Martin muench, who has a 15% share in the companys german subsidiary, said he was the groups sole press spokesman, and told us. However, were going to look at how the gamma groups finfisher spyware. The trojan horse that can do all that is called finfisher. Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Nov 28, 2012 martin muench, who has a 15% share in the companys german subsidiary, said he was the groups sole press spokesman, and told us.
Previously released promotional materials for finfisher a suite of software products. Muench declined immediate comment pending research after being emailed a web link to the citizen lab report and questions related to its findings. Sep 08, 2012 decision to stop sale of spying software to egypt puts other deals with repressive regimes in doubt jamie doward sat 8 sep 2012 19. From ethiopia to vietnam, researchers map reach of german. Athiopien oppositionelle mit deutscher software ausgeforscht. The software being sold is powerful enough to intercept text messages, phone and skype calls, remotely turn on cameras and microphones, log keystrokes and copy files, the guardian reported. Apr 30, 20 mozilla to take legal action against spy tech firm over offensive trademark violation. Decision to stop sale of spying software to egypt puts other deals with repressive regimes in doubt jamie doward sat 8 sep 2012 19.
Multiple mobile trojans for the android, ios, blackberry, symbian, and windows mobile platforms have been discovered as. Iss world latin america brasilia, brazil july 2628, 2011 iss world americas washington d. Some fear the software is used by oppressive regimes to target dissidents. Martin muench, a managing director at gamma international, told bloomberg last month the company hadnt sold finfisher to bahrain. Muench replied disregarding results proposed by the researchers. Gamma international gmbh managing director martin j. I think its good when the police do their job, muench told the daily. Sep 15, 2014 nsw police use hacking software to spy on computers and smartphones. One of the firms offering such abilities to governments and law enforcement is gamma international, with their finfisher suite. Unsettling details of finfisher espionage software leak to. Researchers trace reach of germanmade spy software to canada open this photo in gallery. Gamma referred questions to finfishers german developer, martin muench. Mar 11, 20 the exchange began when i sent muench a query regarding a prospective story i was working on a followup to a netzpolitik article detailing documents showing german federal polices plans to use gammas finfisher a.
Aug 31, 2012 the software is signed by an applegenerated developers certificate assigned to martin muench. Jul 25, 2012 muench, 30, said in that email that finfisher is a tool for monitoring criminals, and that to reduce the risk of abuse of its products the company only sells finfisher to governments. Meet the german jazz pianist selling spy software to. Mar, 20 london university of toronto researchers have discovered a new group of servers in several countries, including canada, linked to an elusive espionage campaign. Germanys federal criminal police office bka is testing finfisher for possible use.
The infamous finfisher cyber espionage tool has gone mobile, malware style. Mar, 20 finfisher products are marketed and sold exclusively to law enforcement and intelligence agencies by the ukbased gamma group. The activist group sent a 186page report to hmrc, saying that that technology sold is being used to spy on activists, who are later targeted by repressive. Nsw police use hacking software to spy on computers and smartphones. Finfisher, also known as finspy, is surveillance software sold by german company gamma international. Company denies role in recently uncovered spyware the. Company denies role in recently uncovered spyware the new. Finfisher is a trojan spyware kit developed and marketed by the ukgerman. Easily share your publications and get them in front of issuus. Muench, who is based in munich, said his company didnt sell finfisher spyware to bahrain. Mozilla to take legal action against spy tech firm over offensive trademark violation. Everything you know is a lie finfisher spyware watching. Servers in canada linked to finfisher spyware program cbc news.
Mar, 20 gamma referred questions to finfisher s german developer, martin muench. Servers in canada linked to finfisher spyware program cbc. Mar, 20 researchers trace reach of germanmade spy software to canada open this photo in gallery. Nominee directors linked to intelligence, military icij. Nelsons father, bill nelson, is described as the ceo of the uk gamma, which sells a range of covert surveillance equipment from a modern industrial estate outside andover in hampshire, near the family home in. After rapid7 analyzed and identified finfisher command and control servers in at least 10 countries on five continents, including on ec2 amazon cloud service in the u. I am still investigating how a piece of our software went astray, he said in his e mail. Louthean nelson is not associated with any company by the name of. He said it was likely than an old demonstration version had been copied illegally and modified for malicious use. Mar, 20 the discovery of a group of servers linked to an elusive espionage campaign is providing new details about a hightech piece of spy software that some fear may be targeting dissidents living under. Microsoft said its antimalware software blocks the finspy trojan, and that.
Mjm as personified evil says spyware saves lives not kills them. Aug 31, 2012 the gamma group denied that the servers rapid7 discovered were running finspy. How two amateur sleuths looked for finspy software the new. The gamma group denied that the servers rapid7 discovered were running finspy. Selling spyware to trap dissidents voxeurop english. A canadian research center said wednesday that it had identified 25 different countries that host servers linked to finfisher, a trojan horse program which can dodge antivirus protections to. Servers in canada linked to finfisher spyware program. A twitter account has published release notes, price lists and source code. Newsletter july 2011 confidential 2 dear customers and partners, during the past couple of months, we have substantially increased our team in the areas of research and development, quality assurance and support in order to be able to upgrade all the finfisher. Martin muench, managing director of gamma international, poses for a. Finfisher spyware presentation details leaked infosecurity. Martin munch says he knows who the bad guys are, and that hes one of. Finfisher targets android, iphone, blackberry, symbian.
Researchers from the citizen lab have released new data that examines the mobile side of finfisher, as well as possible locations for its use. It intrusion tools, sometimes known as lawful interception technologies, are a fixture in the headlines when it comes to privacy. Muench, 30, said in that email that finfisher is a tool for monitoring criminals, and that to reduce the risk of abuse of its products the company only sells finfisher to governments. The software is typically used by intelligence and policing agencies to break into computers and mobiles and can secretly log keystrokes and take screenshots.
The software is signed by an applegenerated developers certificate assigned to martin muench. Meet the german jazz pianist selling spy software to totalitarian. He added that a modification would have been made to the software as no. This sort of spyware is called trojan because its snooping functions are smuggled in inside a harmlesslooking shell. Finfisher, a software application used by law enforcement agencies for surveillance, appears to be far more widespred than originally thought. Sontusdatos cedric laurant and monserrat laguna osorio. Munch 31 develops intrusion software for computers and smartphones. The discovery of finfisher servers in countries run by authoritarian governments such as. Researchers trace reach of germanmade spy software to canada. London university of toronto researchers have discovered a new group of servers in several countries, including canada, linked to an elusive espionage campaign. Mar, 20 a canadian research center said wednesday that it had identified 25 different countries that host servers linked to finfisher, a trojan horse program which can dodge antivirus protections to. Aug 31, 2012 muench, who is based in munich, said his company didnt sell finfisher spyware to bahrain. Gamma referred questions about finfisher to its german developer, martin muench.
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