Lawmakers call on Treasury to sanction hackers-for-hire

The groups have allegedly targeted American citizens and companies, including the wife of GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers, a former representative running in a Michigan swing race.

A bipartisan trio of lawmakers is asking the Treasury Department to sanction three India-based mercenary hack-for-hire groups that have reportedly stolen data from thousands of American citizens and companies.

Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., sought in a letter to Secretary Howard Lutnick Wednesday to have the mercenary firms added to the Treasury Department’s Entity List, which would limit their access to American software, cybersecurity tools and cloud infrastructure.

“Several India-based cyber-mercenary groups have spent more than fifteen years conducting targeted espionage against U.S. citizens, businesses and the lawyers representing them,” Wyden, Harrigan and Whitehouse wrote. “Compounding this security threat, these cyber mercenaries and their associates have engaged in an aggressive campaign of global lawfare to censor investigative reporting by prominent American media organizations. This coordinated effort effectively allows foreign entities to use foreign courts to keep the American public in the dark about cyber threats to their own country and undermines the fundamental constitutional rights of U.S. citizens.”

The three firms are Sunkissed Organic Farms, BellTroX and CyberRoot. The first of those three was formerly known as Appin and has been the subject of investigative reports and criminal probes. The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto has delved into the work of BellTroX, and journalists also have reported on the activity of CyberRoot.

“The threat is further heightened by evidence that these groups have operated at the behest of the Qatari government, targeting opponents of Qatar’s World Cup bid and even the family of a former Republican Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” the lawmakers wrote. “While one of these operatives has been indicted by the Department of Justice, the foreign hackers continue to operate with impunity.”

Reuters reported in 2023 that the family member was Kristi Rogers, wife of former House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, now running for Senate as the GOP candidate against one of the midterms’ most important and contested races against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Some of the hacking groups also have sought to censor reporting on their hacking activities, the lawmakers noted.

CyberScoop couldn’t reach the companies for comment. The Treasury Department also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and the government of Qatar didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the letter. TechCrunch first reported on the letter.

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