{"id":7430,"date":"2020-12-14T05:08:21","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T10:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=7430"},"modified":"2020-12-14T05:23:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T10:23:20","slug":"its-a-free-for-all-how-hi-tech-spyware-ends-up-in-the-hands-of-mexicos-cartels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=7430","title":{"rendered":"‘It’s a Free-For-All’: How Hi-Tech Spyware Ends Up in the Hands of Mexico’s Cartels"},"content":{"rendered":"
Police work at a crime scene in Acapulco in 2018. Many regional and state forces are accused of colluding with the crime organisations they are supposed to be confronting. Photograph: Francisco Robles\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mexico has become a major importer of spying kit but officials are accused of colluding with criminal groups \u2013 and innocent individuals are often targeted.<\/strong> – Cecile Schilis-Gallego and Nina Lakhani<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A collaboration with 24 international media outlets across 18 countries, and coordinated by Forbidden Stories<\/a>, the Cartel Project investigates the global networks of Mexican drug cartels and their political connections around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Corrupt Mexican officials have helped drug cartels in the country obtain state-of-the-art spyware which can be used to hack mobile phones, according to a senior DEA official.<\/p>\n

As many as 25 private companies \u2013 including the Israeli company NSO Group and the Italian firm Hacking Team \u2013 have sold surveillance software to Mexican federal and state police forces, but there is little or no regulation of the sector \u2013 and no way to control where the spyware ends up, said the officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a free-for-all,\u201d the official told the Cartel Project, an initiative coordinated by Forbidden Stories<\/a>, a global network of investigative journalists whose mission is to continue the work of reporters who are threatened, censored or killed. \u201cThe police who have the technology would just sell it to the cartels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, Mexico<\/a> has become a major importer of spyware, as officials insist they need to equip themselves against the powerful organised crime groups that have helped drive the country\u2019s murder rate to record levels.<\/p>\n

But the surveillance kit has also been used to target individuals not accused of any wrongdoing, including the widow of a murdered journalist<\/a>, activists campaigning for a sugar tax on sodas<\/a> and lawyers investigating human rights abuses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found extensive evidence of targeting,\u201d said John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, which researches spyware. \u201cAnd that targeting touched all parts of Mexico\u2019s civil society, as well as its political culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

An investigation by the Cartel Project can reveal that a 10th Mexican journalist \u2013 editor of the country\u2019s foremost investigative magazine \u2013 was targeted with the \u201cPegasus\u201d spyware sold by the Israeli company NSO Group, according to technical analysis by Amnesty International.<\/p>\n

Mexico was one of NSO\u2019s biggest clients for much of the last decade. After an initial contract signed with the secretary of national defense, the Israeli company cemented its place in the market in 2014 by signing a $32m contract with the attorney general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

But more than 20 other companies offering spyware are active in the country, according to the DEA official.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that almost every tech out there at some point has either been pitched to Mexico, demoed there or perhaps used there,\u201d said Scott-Railton.<\/p>\n

The UK has also recently got in on the act. Since 2018, the UK sold Mexico spyware<\/a> \u2013 telecommunications-jamming equipment and interception technology \u2013 worth $300,000, which analysts say can be used in conjunction to listen to targets\u2019 conversations, according to government data published by Campaign Against the Arms Trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are observing a series of explosions in growth of the industry, some of them driven by demand, especially as the demand evolves just from national security services down to more regional and local police services,\u201d added Scott-Railton.<\/p>\n

Many of those regional and state forces are accused of colluding with the crime organisations they are supposed to be confronting<\/a>, so the spyware can easily pass into the hands of the mafia or corrupt politicians.<\/p>\n

In the US trial of drug capo Joaqu\u00edn \u201cEl Chapo\u201d Guzm\u00e1n Loera<\/a>, one engineer testified that he bought \u201cinterception equipment that allows access to phone calls, the internet, text messages\u201d for the Sinaloa cartel. But crime factions who do not have their own engineers can easily corrupt officials who, according to the DEA, agree to hack targets in exchange for bribes.<\/p>\n

The nexus between state and criminal forces has fuelled a wave of targeted violence which have made Mexico the most dangerous country for journalists in the world, outside a war zone. At least 119 media workers have been killed in Mexico since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the inevitable fear for reporters is that surveillance could lead to more tangible dangers.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Jorge Carrasco, editor-in-chief of the Mexican news weekly Proceso, received a text message from an unknown number: \u201cHello Jorge. I am sharing this memo that Animal Politico published today. I think it\u2019s important to reshare.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message came with a link. \u201cWho is this?\u201d Carrasco texted back. The sender never responded.<\/p>\n

Analysis by Amnesty International revealed that the mysterious message was an attempt to gain access to Carrasco\u2019s phone using NSO Group\u2019s Pegasus spyware. When clicked, the link installs an invisible software that sucks all the phone\u2019s data, including text messages. It also enables the microphone and camera to be activated remotely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of many attempts to know what we journalists are investigating \u2026 it\u2019s an act of intimidation,\u201d said Carrasco, who at the time was delving into the huge cache of leaked offshore financial documents knows as the Panama Papers.<\/p>\n

According to Amnesty, the phone number that targeted Carrasco was the same number used to send multiple text messages containing malicious links to Carmen Aristegui<\/a> \u2013 one of the country\u2019s best-known investigative journalists who was responsible for a string of embarrassing revelations about then-president Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto. The same domain name was also used in 2017 with the same software to target supporters of a soda tax.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen a narrative that uses security issues in Mexico and the violence related to organised crime as an excuse, as a selling point to spend large sums of money in acquiring technology allegedly to be used under this context,\u201d said Luis Fernando Garc\u00eda, director of RD3, a digital rights organisation. \u201cEven though, as we know in Mexico, the line between organised crime and the government is nonexistent or frequently very blurry.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to statistics from the Mexican government, more than a third of attacks on journalists were committed by public officials.<\/p>\n

G\u00e9rard Araud, the former French ambassador to Washington who worked as NSO Group\u2019s external adviser on human rights issues from 2019 to 2020, admitted to the Cartel Project that he did not know \u201ceverything that was implemented or what was not\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cSecrecy is an integral part of the business, which puts my contribution into perspective,\u201d he said. \u201cMy job was more to have discussions with the investors, rather than with the company itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

NSO Group has praised Araud\u2019s \u201cimportant role\u201d in advising the company.<\/p>\n

In a written statement to the Cartel Project, the company said it had investigated all alleged misuses of its technology, adding that \u201cin multiple instances, NSO [had] terminated contracts and severed relationships with customers after misuses were identified,\u201d without naming any specific client.<\/p>\n

Israeli authorities have not sanctioned NSO Group despite evidence of Pegasus being used against civilians, and continues to renew its export license.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that there were journalists and activists targeted with Pegasus, for the Israeli government that\u2019s just a basic fact of life,\u201d said Eitay Mack, an Israeli human rights lawyer.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from the Israel ministry of defense told Forbidden Stories: \u201cHuman rights, policy and security issues are all taken into consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spy state<\/strong><\/p>\n

Political spying is not new to Mexico. In the state of Veracruz, where 19 journalists have been killed since 2012, a sophisticated espionage unit run by the public security ministry has been in place since the 1990s, according to well-placed government sources.<\/p>\n

The unit kept detailed files on journalists, activists and political opponents detailing their professional relationships, political affiliations, and sexual orientation, the sources said. Intelligence officers maintained a network of paid informants \u2013 including waiters, shoeshiners, street vendors, small scale drug dealers, as well as bogus activists and journalists \u2013 were paid in cash, gifts and political favours.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s surveillance technology was upgraded between 2016 and 2018, when the unit acquired high tech spyware from Europe, sources confirmed.<\/p>\n

But, leaked emails from Hacking Team revealed that by 2012, Veracruz already had access to a trial version of the company\u2019s Remote Control System (RCS), which infects computers through malicious files.<\/p>\n

\u201cVeracruz has very sophisticated spy technology. It\u2019s not Pegasus, but it\u2019s just as good,\u201d reported a well-placed source. \u201cIntelligence analysts are very experienced and have the skill and technology to hack into phones and computers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically, Hacking Team\u2019s emails were hacked and published online in 2015.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
In 2018, the current governor of Veracruz announced an end to such activities, but it\u2019s unclear if the spying was suspended or dismantled permanently. The state\u2019s public security department did not respond to multiple emails from the Cartel Project.<\/div>\n
\n
Javier Duarte, the former governor of Veracruz, with police in Guatemala in 2017. Photograph: STRINGER\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For journalists, the situation is particularly dangerous. In 2012, journalist Regina Mart\u00ednez was murdered while investigating allegations of corruption and organised crime<\/a> during the administration of two state governors, Fidel Herrera and Javier Duarte. Sixteen journalists were murdered during Duarte\u2019s six-year term, when reporters and photographers said surveillance intensified.<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9s Timoteo, a friend and colleague of Mart\u00ednez, said that she always felt watched. \u201cShe heard noises from her phone, echoes. But we were all spied on. It was part of daily life.\u201d Timoteo fled Mexico after Regina Mart\u00ednez was murdered, fearing for his safety.<\/p>\n

Duarte is currently serving nine years after admitting some corruption charges and admitting to working with criminal elements.<\/p>\n

Mexico\u2019s opaque and lucrative system of cyber-surveillance contracts is ripe for corruption, according to Garc\u00eda, director of RD3. \u201cCompanies and intermediaries fight for becoming friends with the official that makes the decision of who to allocate the contract to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Hacking Team appeared to find a friend in Tom\u00e1s Zer\u00f3n, former chief director of the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) at the attorney general\u2019s office. \u201cHis idea is, step by step and if is getting success, install an RCS on each [local prosecutor] of the country,\u201d wrote a Hacking Team employee in an email in 2014 which was subsequently leaked.<\/p>\n

Zer\u00f3n is currently a fugitive from justice and believed to be in Israel, according to the Mexican president, Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador. He is charged with embezzlement related to three contracts to acquire espionage equipment between 2013 and 2014, among other crimes. He is also wanted for falsifying elements of an investigation into the forced disappearance of 43 trainee teachers from Guerrero in 2014. Citizen Lab was able to prove that a group of international experts investigating this case were also targeted by Pegasus software.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s foreign ministry said: \u201cIsrael has received a request [from the Mexican authorities] about this and we are looking into the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former director of Hacking Team, David Vincenzetti, declined to respond to questions from the Cartel Project. The company was sold in 2019.<\/p>\n

Amid growing criticism at the misuse of spyware, the newly elected President L\u00f3pez Obrador said that the government would stop using Pegasus software, but has not commented on the topic since.<\/p>\n

Neither the president nor the attorney general\u2019s office responded to questions from the Cartel Project on this subject.<\/p>\n

David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression until July 2020, said: \u201cWe\u2019re in a situation where we need to assume that these tools are still available to be used, and it\u2019s up to the government to demonstrate that they\u2019ve put them under significant rule of law constraint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reporting by Cecile Schilis-Gallego (Forbidden Stories) and Nina Lakhani (the Guardian). Additional reporting by Paloma Dupont de Dinechin (Forbidden Stories), Amitai Ziv (Haaretz) and Mathieu Tourli\u00e8re (Proceso)<\/em><\/p>\n

From the Guardian<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mexico has become a major importer of spying kit but officials are accused of colluding with criminal groups \u2013 and innocent individuals are often targeted. – Cecile Schilis-Gallego and Nina Lakhani A collaboration with 24 international media outlets across 18 countries, and coordinated by Forbidden Stories, the Cartel Project investigates the global networks of Mexican…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":7433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/80af8489171a1dc168e5d8b25500e93643778b59\/0_0_3364_2160\/master\/3364.jpg?width=1900&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=1262022c2d9b77f8e6e4711f41285428","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018It\u2019s a Free-For-All\u2019: How Hi-Tech Spyware Ends Up in the Hands of Mexico\u2019s Cartels","footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security-public-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7430"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7440,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7430\/revisions\/7440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}