BREACH

UAE Cybersecurity Firm Discussed Hacking The Intercept’s American Journalists

DarkMatter reportedly targeted The Intercept after a 2016 article investigating the firm’s recruitment of former National Security Agency employees.

A cybersecurity company working for the United Arab Emirates considered hacking U.S. staffers of the news site The Intercept after the publication reported on its recruitment of Americans who had been National Security Agency employees. The firm, DarkMatter, discussed hacking into Intercept employees’ computers with a former U.S. intelligence operative in the room, a source told The Intercept. After former Intercept reporter Jenna McLaughlin reported on the connection between DarkMatter and the National Electronic Security Authority, the Emirati counterpart to the NSA, in a 2016 article, the entire publication allegedly became a target. In February, Reuters reported the FBI is investigating DarkMatter’s alleged use of American hacking expertise to surveil other Americans. In a statement to The Intercept, a DarkMatter executive denied targeting the publication for its coverage, but declined to say the purported meeting discussing the hacking didn’t take place.