A group of American climate activists are closely watching a US court case that could reveal who hired hackers to target their inboxes a decade ago.
In 2015, a set of explosive media reports revealed that ExxonMobil’s own scientists determined as early as 1982 that the extraction and burning of fossil fuels caused the climate crisis – but Exxon went on to fund climate denial campaigns anyway. The reports prompted attorneys general to investigate the company.
In 2016, as a group of climate activists sought to hold Exxon accountable for climate deception, they found themselves targeted by a wave of phishing emails. Kert Davies, the founder of the Climate Investigations Center, a group that monitors the fossil fuel industry, received more than 80 phishing emails, including one pretending to be his colleague sharing a Dropbox document titled “ExxonMobil (confidential).docx”. A Department of Justice investigation eventually confirmed the successful hacking of more than 100 victims, including the group of Exxon critics.
