The United States Department of Justice announced that 3 former agents of the American intelligence “have admitted to working as hackers for the UAE.”
And the Washington Post newspaper, on Wednesday, quoted the ministry as saying, in a statement, that “3 former US intelligence agents admitted to illegally working as mercenary hackers for the UAE, in operations that included developing spyware capable of eavesdropping on mobile devices without any action from before its users.
According to the source, the three agents are accused of conspiracy to violate US military export control laws and fraud and misuse of computers.
Reports indicate that the defendants were part of a secret action that helped the UAE spy on targets around the world, using hacked servers, computers and devices, including in the United States.
There was no immediate comment from the Emirates on what was reported by the US Department.
The discovery of an advanced hack of the iPhone belonging to a Saudi activist prompted Apple, last Monday, to issue an emergency software update for its products around the world.
Defendants Mark Baer, 49, Ryan Adams, 34, and Daniel Gerrick, 40, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the federal government in which they admitted their behavior and agreed to forfeit $1.7 million and US security clearances, restricting their future employment and “cooperating.” fully” with investigators.
In return, US prosecutors agreed to drop all charges after a three-year period, according to a 48-page agreement the men signed on September 7.
