Drug Cartel Hacker Tracked Fbi Official’s Phone To Kill Informants, Us Says

A hacker tapped into an FBI employee’s telephone to thief a Mexican supplier cartel way down and termination informants, according to a caller study by nan Department of Justice inspector general. The study urged nan FBI to measure really it protects “sensitive investigations and operations from technological compromise.”

The hacker was moving for nan Sinaloa cartel, 1 of nan world’s largest supplier traffickers, according to nan report. In February, President Donald Trump designated Sinaloa arsenic a violent organization.

FBI charismatic tracked successful Mexico City

The study did not place nan hacker, who was mentioned successful a lawsuit involving Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, nan supplier cartel laminitis who is serving a life condemnation successful nan United States.

However, nan inspector wide said nan hacker tracked down informants aft identifying an FBI adjunct ineligible attaché extracurricular nan U.S. Embassy successful Mexico City. Legal attaché agents activity pinch rule enforcement agencies successful big countries, according to USA Today.

After obtaining nan attaché’s telephone number, nan hacker monitored nan official’s geolocation information arsenic good arsenic incoming and outgoing calls. The hacker later tapped into Mexico City’s surveillance camera strategy to place group gathering pinch nan attaché.

The cartel utilized nan information, nan inspector wide said, to “intimidate and, successful immoderate instances, termination imaginable sources aliases cooperating witnesses.”

‘Ubiquitous method surveillance’

The section raises questions beyond nan Simaloa case, nan inspector wide said.

“Advances successful information mining and analysis, facial nickname and machine web exploitation person made it easier than ever for federation authorities adversaries, violent organizations and criminal networks to place FBI unit and operations,” nan study said.

As a result, nan FBI has been urged to behaviour an agency-wide appraisal to find wherever it is astir vulnerable. As noted successful a 2024 study by The Economist, “ubiquitous method surveillance” has fixed criminal groups entree to capabilities and accusation erstwhile reserved for governments. 

Drug cartels are good known for their method sophistication. Derek Maltz, nan erstwhile acting DEA administrator, told CNN that groups for illustration Sinaloa usage state-of-the-art surveillance techniques “to place rule enforcement activities and their adversaries.”

A 2023 investigation by VICE News recovered that cartels had gained entree to intelligence package utilized by nan Mexican authorities successful bid ”to find and vanish rivals and hide their crimes.”