Compliance Management, Threat Management, Threat Intelligence, Privacy

RAT AlienSpy found on phone of dead Argentinian prosecutor

Security Researcher Morgan Marquis-Boire revealed the Remote Access Tool (RAT) AlienSpy was used to spy on the phone of Alberto Nisman, an Argentinian prosecutor who died under mysterious circumstances earlier this year.  

Over the course of six weeks, the malware enabled an attacker to listen to calls, read messages and capture screenshots from Nisman's smartphone, according to Motherboard.

Marquis-Boire, director of security at First Look Media, made the revelation during a presentation on Wednesday at the Black Hat 2015 Conference in Las Vegas. Prior to his announcement, little was known about the malware found on Nisman's phone or who was responsible, outside of local reports that a trojan file was used to infect Nisman's device. Marquis-Boire traced the file to an online repository where he found the file was uploaded three months after Nisman's death.

Though he couldn't confirm who was behind the attack, Marquis-Boire told the audience that he found evidence pointing to the Argentinian and Uruguayan governments.

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