Mexican Drug Cartel Hacker Spied on FBI Official's Phone to Track and Kill Informants

upstart writes:

Mexican drug cartel hacker spied on FBI official's phone to track and kill informants, report says:

In 2018, a hacker hired by the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel run by the infamous kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman spied on the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City with the goal of identifying "people of interest" for the cartel to target and kill, according to a new U.S. government watchdog report.

[...] The hacker "offered a menu of services related to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices," and was able to observe people going in and out of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico's capital, according to the report, including the FBI assistant legal attache, a federal agent who works overseas along with local law enforcement authorities.

Somehow - the report does not detail exactly how - the hacker was "able to use" the official's mobile phone number to "obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data, associated with" the official's phone.

According to the FBI, the hacker also accessed Mexico City's camera system to follow the attache through the city and "identify people" who the attache met with, read the report.

"According to the case agent, the cartel used that information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses," the report added.

[...] For years, Mexico has been at the bleeding edge of surveillance and hacking capabilities, on both sides of the drug war.

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