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Canada,United States : WIKILEAKS releases FINFISHER to highlight malware abuse [TendersInfo (India)](TendersInfo (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WikiLeaks released information on controversial commercial surveillance tools, criticising the German government for blocking a weaponised malware developer from shipping its code to countries with regimes with poor human rights records. WikiLeaks included unreleased versions of the malware, produced by FinFisher, a German firm that used to be part of Gamma International. FinFisher can infect Apple OS X, Windows and Linux computers as well as Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone devices. The files obtained by a hacker going by the name Phineas Fisher, used it to improve detection systems to protect people s PCs and mobiles. The organisation believes the files will help researchers uncover further human rights abuses related to FinFisher, which can be used to siphon off data from machines and spy on communications, from email to Skype. FinFisher customers include law enforcement and government agencies in Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Mongolia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa and Vietnam. This backs up data from Citizen Lab, a non-profit organization that focuses on protecting activists online. The FinFisher was originally brought to light when documents were found in the offices of Egypt s secret police after president Hosni Mubarak was deposed. Activists from Ethiopia and Bahrain claimed to have been targeted by governments using FinFisher. Germany should take action to stop the malware spreading. FinFisher continues to operate brazenly from Germany selling weaponised surveillance malware of the most abusive regimes in the world. The Merkel government pretends to be concerned about privacy, but its actions speak otherwise. Assange s organisation claimed FinFisher s revenue from the sales documented in the leak amounts 50 million (£40 million), though Bill Marczak. (c) 2014 Euclid Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |