Cyber Crime
Deloitte Exposed: Senior Cyber Unit Officer Sacked For Running Global Hacking Syndicate
NEW DELHI: Deloitte India has reportedly terminated an employee who ran a hacking operation on the side. The Sunday Times and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism did a sting operation that identified India-based hacking gangs that targeted high-profile individuals worldwide. According to the study, Aditya Jain, an associate director of Deloitte’s cyber unit, ran the hacking outfit WhiteInt.
Recently, it came to light that illicit hacking operatives, often known as “hack-for-hire” businesses, established operations in India, where they accessed the emails and phones of VIPs and states for a charge paid by private investigators worldwide.
The hacking ring operating under the name WhiteInt was uncovered by ‘The Sunday Times’ and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in a sting operation. Several Indian hackers volunteered to break into the private email accounts and messages of victims on behalf of investigators working for autocratic nations, British lawyers, and their affluent clients, according to the exposé.
Senior Deloitte Officer Caught On Camera
The sting discovered that the gang operated from a fourth-floor flat in a Gurugram neighbourhood. According to the Sunday Times, it was led by a 31-year-old man who was recruited at the Indian headquarters of the British accounting firm Deloitte.
Jain joined Deloitte in February of this year and was employed with the cyber unit of another Big Four firm until March 2021, according to the report.
Experts in the industry are questioning the working and recruitment process of Big4 consultancies and Deloitte. These companies claim to have a stringent process and background check, but were caught unaware of a senior employee indulging in such illegal activity. These Big4 consultancies engage with top global companies and government department for their crucial projects and have access to vital information and employees engaging in such illegal activity raises a big question on hygiene followed by these companies.
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To uncover the hacking operation, undercover reporters posing as former intelligence officers travelled to India in search of hackers who might obtain sensitive material from the email and computers of prominent figures.
The hacker organisation WhiteInt’s database contained sensitive information about former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, Swiss president Ignazio Cassis, former British chancellor Philip Hammond, and former Pakistani minister Fawad Chaudhry, among others.
The study states that Jain has operated a hacker network for seven years. To obtain private information, they deployed malicious software that takes control of computer cameras and microphones and enables hackers to observe and hear their victims.
Cyber security has been one of the fastest-growing sectors for the Big Four Indian firms EY, Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG in recent years. However, because they lack the necessary number of cyber security experts, the companies occasionally outsource their work to a few reputable businesses and individuals.
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According to a cyber consultant for the Big Four, these companies outsource when clients request “deeper insights.” All new staff undergo a rudimentary background check, but a few “black sheep” slip through, he claimed.
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