Italian intelligence hacked into letters exchanged with Russian firms on business deals.
India has sought a report from its mission in Moscow following a report in the Russian media that sensitive defence information has been stolen by an Italian intelligence agency during the past two years.
According to documents released by an international hackers’ group, the Italian cyber police — the National Anti-Crime Computer Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CNAIPIC) — has been hacking into the Indian embassy’s letters with Russian defence firms, the Izvestia daily said. India, sources said, is looking into the vested interests that could be behind this.
Anonymous Hackers for AntiSec operation, a group campaigning against security agencies and governments, has put online a set of documents allegedly hacked from the Italian cyber police server, which include letters exchanged between the Indian embassy’s air wing and a local company supplying spares for military aircraft.
Izvestia said Italian cyber police had hacked on June 22, 2010 deputy air attache DS Shekhavat’s correspondence with Aviazapchast, a company specialising in the supply of aviation spares, complaining about delays in the shipment of 15 helicopter engines. A reply from the Aviazapchast representative in India written on the same day was also hacked by the CNAIPIC.
The Italian cyber police had also accessed correspondence of the aircraft engine manufacturer NPO Saturn and Ilyushin Aircraft with the Indian embassy in Moscow and the Air Headquarters in New Delhi.
The files put online reveal that besides the Indo-Russian defence cooperation, the CNAIPIC targeted correspondence of Russian nuclear and hydrocarbon majors like Atomstroieksport and Gazprom, Izvestia reported.
The Aviazapchast spokesperson told the daily that there was no leakages from the company and the letters had been stolen from the Indians. Indian embassy cellphone bills from the local Beeline provider were among the hacked documents.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}