Security News > 2021 > September > Ex-US intel, military trio were cyber-mercenaries for UAE, say prosecutors

Three former US intelligence and military operatives broke America's weapons export and computer security laws by, among other things, helping the United Arab Emirates hijack and siphon data from people's iPhones, it emerged on Tuesday.

US citizens Marc Baier, 49, and Ryan Adams, 34, and ex-citizen Daniel Gericke, 40, were charged [PDF] with using "Illicit, fraudulent, and criminal means, including the use of advanced covert hacking systems that utilized computer exploits obtained from the United States and elsewhere, to gain unauthorized access to protected computers in the United States and elsewhere and to illicitly obtain information ... from victims from around the world."

After being offered a load of extra cash and a larger budget, the three jumped ship to a UAE-based business that also worked for the Middle East nation's government, and there, as senior managers, they continued their vulnerability exploitation efforts albeit without the necessary paperwork from the US government for providing defense services.

While at the UAE business, between early 2016 and 2019, the trio supported and supervised their colleagues in deploying zero-click exploits that could be used to remotely compromise "Any of the tens of millions of smartphones and mobile devices" running a certain tech giant's operating system.

Prosecutors didn't name the companies involved, though it's been noted that Stroud worked with Baier, Adams, and Gericke at CyberPoint in the US and then together at DarkMatter in UAE, which was reportedly home to Project Raven.

"This is a clear message to anybody, including former US government employees, who had considered using cyberspace to leverage export-controlled information for the benefit of a foreign government or a foreign commercial company - there is risk, and there will be consequences," said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI's Cyber Division.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/09/15/three_rogue_former_nsa_hackers/