An India-based computer hacking gang seized control of computers owned by Pakistani politicians, generals and diplomats and eavesdropped on their private conversations, apparently at the behest of Indian secret services, an investigative report revealed.
The gang, which operates under the name of WhiteInt, is run from a fourth-floor apartment in a suburb of the Indian tech city Gurugram. Its mastermind is 31-year-old Aditya Jain – an occasional TV cybersecurity pundit who also holds down a day job at the Indian office of the British accountancy firm Deloitte.
In January this year, Jain was tasked with breaking into the email account of then information minister Fawad Chaudhry in prime minister Imran Khan’s government, a report published by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism stated.
The publication said that Jain also took a screenshot of Fawad’s inbox.
Following the revelations, Fawad Chaudhry termed the development extremely concerning.
“I strongly condemn this unethical practice of #ModiJanta will the intern FM of Pak raise this issue,” he said, referring to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The report said that Jain’s team used malware to take over PTI leader’s computers and targeted the country’s senior generals as well as its embassies in Beijing, Shanghai and Kathmandu in a similar way. The most famous target was former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Sunday Times were given access to the gang’s database, which reveals the extraordinary scale of the attacks.
