- Hackers stole 182GB of Protei data, including years of email correspondence
- Protei builds DPI and SORM surveillance tools for governments and telecom operators worldwide
- Attackers defaced site, signaling opposition to Russia’s surveillance ecosystem
Protei, a Russian company suspected of selling surveillance gear to nation-states, was recently hacked and had gigabytes of company data stolen.
An unknown individual (or entity) broke into Protei on, or around, November 8, and defaced the site. Soon after, they shared a copy of the stolen data with DDoSecrets, a nonprofit transparency organization that indexes leaked, hacked, or otherwise exposed data in the public interest, and is often compared to WikiLeaks for releasing large datasets involving governments, law enforcement, and corporations.
The copy is 182GB in size, and includes email correspondence “dating back years”.
Hacktivism
Protei is a Russian telecom and technology company, known for building core-network systems, deep-packet inspection tools, and “Safe City” surveillance platforms. It sells software-hardware solutions to mobile operators and government-linked clients in Russia and abroad, and also develops systems associated with SORM, Russia’s lawful-intercept framework.
Since this solution allows authorities to monitor communications, Protei is often described as part of Russia’s surveillance ecosystem.
The identity of the attackers is unknown, but they seem to be hacktivists. While the site was defaced, it carried a message, saying: “another DPI/SORM provider bites the dust.”
SORM is currently being used in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Nicaragua, and Cuba. Telecommunication firms and ISPs can install it on their gear, thus granting government agencies the ability to eavesdrop on calls, read text messages, and monitor web browsing data.
DPI (Deep-packet inspection) devices serve as censorship tools, since they allow telcos to filter web traffic and selectively block access to different sites.
Generally speaking, Protei is a Russian company, but it operates out of Jordan, and claims to have more than 400 clients worldwide. These clients are allegedly located in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, and Europe.
Via TechCrunch
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