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Credit to Author: Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai| Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2017 13:00:00 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n In the last few months, human rights and internet monitoring organizations have uncovered evidence that the Mexican government uses sophisticated spyware made by an Israeli company to monitor journalists, dissidents, and even political opponents, as reported<\/a> in a series<\/a> of<\/a> articles<\/a> in The New York Times<\/i>. <\/p>\n Now, a former Mexican spy alleges that years ago, a Mexican governor used a different sort of spyware\u2014this one made by the infamous Italian company, Hacking Team<\/a>\u2014to surveil other government employees and politicians, including journalists and even the President of Mexico himself. <\/p>\n Read more: <\/b> Hacking Team’s ‘Illegal’ Latin American Empire<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n On Monday, Rodolfo Ra\u00fal Gonz\u00e1lez V\u00e1zquez, a former agent of the Mexican intelligence agency CISEN, announced he was filing a suit against the former governor of the southern state of Puebla, Rafel Moreno Valle. Gonz\u00e1lez V\u00e1zquez accuses Moreno Valle of monitoring Mexican President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto, plus an additional 24 others, including politicians and journalists, according to local news reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n During a press conference<\/a>, Gonz\u00e1lez V\u00e1zquez said this was a “clandestine espionage department,” that should be considered “a criminal group.” <\/p>\n Thanks to leaked internal documents from Hacking Team, we know Mexico was the company’s largest customer<\/a>. In the last few years, it appears that its competitor from Israel, NSO Group<\/a>, has taken over the local market. The dissidents, journalists, and investigators targeted with spyware that have been exposed recently were all targeted with NSO’s malware. <\/p>\n Got a tip? You can contact this reporter securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, OTR chat at lorenzo@jabber.ccc.de, or email <\/i><\/b> lorenzo@motherboard.tv<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n A New York Times Magazine <\/i>article<\/a> from January of this year detailed some of Puebla’s government abuses using Hacking Team’s spyware, also known as RCS or Galileo. The company has long held that it had no knowledge of how customers used its tools. But that wasn’t always true. Former employees, who have left the company on ethical grounds<\/a>, said they were aware of some abuses, and tried warning the company of them.<\/p>\n Early on, Puebla appeared to be a place where something could go wrong. When the company was discussing its contract with the local government, a Hacking Team employee who traveled to Mexico warned the management that there was something fishy about the people who were trying to purchase RCS on behalf of Puebla, according to a former employee who was aware of this warning, and spoke to Motherboard on condition of anonymity. <\/p>\n Hacking Team did not respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n According to a Mexican source who works in the surveillance industry, and who also asked to speak only on condition of anonymity, this is just yet another incident that shows how spyware has become a central tool for Mexican politicians. <\/p>\n “There are corrupt characters who use spyware for personal goals,” the source said in a phone call. “They use it to maintain power and control.”<\/p>\n Get six of our favorite Motherboard stories every day <\/i><\/b> by signing up for our newsletter<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n