One of the most pressing issues facing the IT service and computer repair industries is hacking. It can happen to anybody, and I mean anybody. But what about when hackers get hacked? Yes, that can happen also. When hackers get hacked: Doesn’t feel so good?
Here’s the story. So there is this tech media group they call Motherboard. They got nearly 1TB worth of data from Cellebrite. But who is Cellebrite? They’re an Israeli tech company. Furthermore, here’s the irony. They take data from cell phones. This is what they built Cellbrite to do. They took the data from Cellebrite’s website. But wait…there’s more.
They took Cellebrite’s customer databases, usernames, and passwords. They also got the part of the site that accesses new software. Cellebrite uses a laptop style device they call?Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED). So what this does is take data from phones. It does this without the phone users’ knowledge. Also, they can take text messages, emails, and phone numbers. Do you understand how private and intimate these items are to the smartphone user? Cellebrite told customers to change their passwords ASAP. Furthermore, they assure customers they’re working with authorities to fix the problem. But guess who some of Cellbrite’s biggest customers are?
If you guessed governments, you guess right. Then if you guessed the US federal and state governments, you’re right again. But that’s not all. According to data Motherboard hacked, foreign governments use Cellbrite. ?These governments include Russia, Turkey, and UAE. These three countries don’t have the best reputations for freedom or privacy rights. Government surveillance is still a hot button issue. In our Boston computer servicing shop, we talk about it all the time. And the general feeling is…people are sick of it. It is at the point people don’t know who to trust. And now a hacking company that enables this suffers the same fate. Personally, I think this is karma. In fact, I try not to laugh at Cellbrite as I write this. When hackers get hacked…it doesn’t feel so good, does it?