Journalists do not plan to sit idly by and will soon challenge the decision of the Indian court.
The Reuters publication indefinitely suspended its investigation, and also hid the corresponding article about the activities of an Indian group of hackers operating under the guise of a cybersecurity startup. This decision was made after receiving a court order from New Delhi dated December 4, 2023.
The investigation of Raphael Sutter, Zeba Siddiqui, and Chris Bing, which we briefly covered in November, was based on a vast array of documents, including emails, financial records, photos, messages, and presentations from Appin.
Having started out as a cybersecurity startup, Appin eventually switched to custom hacking services. The materials also used data from police archives on several continents and interviews with hundreds of people.
The report provided unique information about the internal workings of the APT grouping. Despite the absence of any indication of errors or inaccuracies in the article by Indian law enforcement, Reuters deleted the article, but expressed its intention to challenge the court's decision.
The editorial note notes that the article was removed in accordance with a preliminary court order. The original article was published under the title "How an Indian startup hacked the world" and is now only available as an archived copy on a third-party site.
According to the initial report, Appin engaged in large-scale hacking of the data of political leaders, international executives, well-known lawyers and other significant figures. The company was a leading provider of cyber espionage services for private investigators working on behalf of large businesses, law firms, and high-net-worth clients.
The incident highlights the problems of a free press in India, which quickly "closes the mouths" of even foreign publications. A similar situation was observed earlier this year after the BBC released a documentary criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accusing him of anti-Muslim violence in 2002. Indian authorities then quickly raided the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai under the pretext of tax evasion.
The Reuters publication indefinitely suspended its investigation, and also hid the corresponding article about the activities of an Indian group of hackers operating under the guise of a cybersecurity startup. This decision was made after receiving a court order from New Delhi dated December 4, 2023.
The investigation of Raphael Sutter, Zeba Siddiqui, and Chris Bing, which we briefly covered in November, was based on a vast array of documents, including emails, financial records, photos, messages, and presentations from Appin.
Having started out as a cybersecurity startup, Appin eventually switched to custom hacking services. The materials also used data from police archives on several continents and interviews with hundreds of people.
The report provided unique information about the internal workings of the APT grouping. Despite the absence of any indication of errors or inaccuracies in the article by Indian law enforcement, Reuters deleted the article, but expressed its intention to challenge the court's decision.
The editorial note notes that the article was removed in accordance with a preliminary court order. The original article was published under the title "How an Indian startup hacked the world" and is now only available as an archived copy on a third-party site.
According to the initial report, Appin engaged in large-scale hacking of the data of political leaders, international executives, well-known lawyers and other significant figures. The company was a leading provider of cyber espionage services for private investigators working on behalf of large businesses, law firms, and high-net-worth clients.
The incident highlights the problems of a free press in India, which quickly "closes the mouths" of even foreign publications. A similar situation was observed earlier this year after the BBC released a documentary criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accusing him of anti-Muslim violence in 2002. Indian authorities then quickly raided the BBC's offices in Delhi and Mumbai under the pretext of tax evasion.
