Topics
former
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:YouTube(opens in a new window)
Apps
Biotech & Health
mood
Image Credits:YouTube(opens in a new window)
Cloud Computing
Commerce Department
Crypto
initiative
EVs
Fintech
fundraise
contrivance
punt
Government & Policy
ironware
layoff
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
TV
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
adjoin Us
The founder of the infamous and now - defunct spyware Divine Hacking Team was arrested on Saturday after allegedly prod and attempting to off a congeneric , according tomultiplenewsreports .
David Vincenzetti , who launch Hacking Team in 2003 , was arrested when police point up to his apartment after his full cousin called the police , local medium report , because he could n’t turn over his married woman on the phone . grant to Italian newspaper Il Giorno , the woman was gossip Vincenzetti , who reportedly had psychological issues , to take care of him . Vincenzetti allegedly stabbed the adult female , and the police ascertain her unconscious .
When Vincenzetti appear before the evaluator , he did not peach about the incident , but rather stray about work and his party , propel the judge to order prosecutors to face into his mental health body politic , consort to La Stampa . The judge also ordered the humanity to stay in jail as a precautionary quantity , the newspaper reported .
Reached by phone , a telephone operator at the San Vittore prison in Milan , where Vincenzetti is reportedly being held , said they could not confirm if Vincenzetti was a detainee nor allow for TechCrunch to speak with any political detainee .
Vincenzetti had been out of the public spotlight since 2020 , whenhe declared on his LinkedIn accountthat Hacking Team was “ dead . ” A year earlier , Vincenzetti had deal the party , which had rebranded as Memento Labs .
Hacking Team was one of the first companies to develop and deal spyware to governments ; ab initio in Italy , and later all over the human beings . At its tip , Hacking Team had around 40 government client , including in Spain , Hungary , Poland , Saudi Arabia , Morocco , Colombia , Ecuador , South Korea , and Malaysia .
After year of fly under the radar , security researchers base that customers likeMorocco , theUnited Arab Emirates , andEthiopiahad used Hacking Team ’s tools to target and chop diary keeper and dissidents . The caller always defended itself , say it only sell to governments it could lawfully sell to and that it was not creditworthy for what the customer did with their tools .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
In 2015,a secret vigilante cyberpunk lie with as “ Phineas Fisher ” hacked Hacking Teamand leak chiliad of the company ’s interior electronic mail , and — crucially — the spyware ’s rootage code . The catastrophic severance actuate key developers to leave the company and forced the company to ask client to temporarily turn back using its products . lento , Hacking Team began mislay customers , attempted to rebrand , deal part of its part to Saudi investor , and finally was sold to new management .
