Hacking Team broke Bitcoin secrecy by targeting crucial wallet file

Turns out, going after someone’s Bitcoin transactions is much easier than you might think. After all, as the saying goes, once you’re pwned, you’re pwned.

After Hacking Team, the Italian spyware vendor, was hacked earlier this month, and 400GB of its internal data was released, Ars reviewed many internal e-mails from the company. These documents clearly illustrate how simply Hacking Team's "Money Module" worked, and they provide a small glimpse into which customers were particularly interested in it.

In general, the Italian spyware company sold (and hopes to continue to sell) software that allowed targets to be surreptitiously surveilled as they used computers or smartphones, and its clientele included law enforcement agencies worldwide. Back in January 2014, Hacking Team internally announced a new feature as part of its version 9.2 upgrade to its Remote Control System suite, and the new iteration would include a way to "track cryptocurrencies, such as BitCoin [sic], and all the related information."

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