Microsoft: Israeli group sold tool to hack Windows

Microsoft and technology rights group Citizen Lab said Thursday that an Israeli group had sold a tool to hack Microsoft Windows.

This is a development that highlights the increasing efforts to find and sell widely used software pirating tools.

A Citizen Lab report said the hacking vendor called Candero designed and sold software capable of hacking Windows.

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This is one of many intelligence products sold by a secret sector that finds vulnerabilities in software platforms commonly used for its customers.

Two reports from the group and Microsoft added that security researchers conducted a technical analysis and concluded in detail how the tool sold by “Kandero” was able to spread around the world to many unknown customers and was then used to targeting numerous civil society organizations, including a Saudi opposition group and a left-wing media in Indonesia.

Reuters reported that attempts to contact Kanderu for comment had failed.

The Citizen Lab report indicated that evidence of hacking and exploitation of this tool collected by Microsoft indicates that it was used against users in several countries, including Iran, Lebanon, Spain and Great Britain. -Brittany.

“Kanderu’s growing presence and the use of its surveillance technologies against global civil society is a clear reminder that the mercenary spyware industry has many players and is open to widespread abuse,” the report said.

Microsoft corrected the vulnerabilities discovered with a software update on Tuesday. The company did not directly mention “Kandero” but instead referred to a “hostile Israel-based private sector actor” as “Sorgam”.

“Surgam typically sells cyber weapons that allow its customers, typically government agencies around the world, to infiltrate their target devices such as computers, phones, infrastructure networks, and Internet-connected devices,” Microsoft said. in an article. the operations themselves. “

Source: Reuters

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