Founding father of spy ware maker Hacking Workforce arrested for tried homicide: native media

The founding father of the notorious and now-defunct spy ware maker Hacking Workforce was arrested on Saturday after allegedly stabbing and making an attempt to homicide a relative, according to multiple news reports.

David Vincenzetti, who launched Hacking Workforce in 2003, was arrested when police confirmed as much as his house after his cousin referred to as the police, native media reported, as a result of he couldn’t attain his spouse on the telephone. According to Italian newspaper Il Giorno, the girl was visiting Vincenzetti, who reportedly had psychological points, to care for him. Vincenzetti allegedly stabbed the girl, and the police discovered her unconscious.

When Vincenzetti appeared earlier than the choose, he didn’t speak in regards to the incident, however fairly rambled about work and his firms, prompting the choose to order prosecutors to look into his psychological well being state, according to La Stampa. The choose additionally ordered the person to remain in jail as a precautionary measure, the newspaper reported.

Reached by telephone, a phone operator on the San Vittore jail in Milan, the place Vincenzetti is reportedly being held, mentioned they may not verify if Vincenzetti was a detainee nor permit TechCrunch to talk with any detainee.

Vincenzetti had been out of the general public highlight since 2020, when he declared on his LinkedIn account that Hacking Workforce was “dead.” A yr earlier, Vincenzetti had bought the corporate, which had rebranded as Memento Labs.

Hacking Workforce was one of many first firms to develop and promote spy ware to governments; initially in Italy, and later all around the world. At its peak, Hacking Workforce had round 40 authorities clients, together with in Spain, Hungary, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Colombia, Ecuador, South Korea, and Malaysia.

After years of flying beneath the radar, safety researchers discovered that clients like Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia had used Hacking Workforce’s instruments to focus on and hack journalists and dissidents. The corporate at all times defended itself, saying it solely bought to governments it may legally promote to and that it was not liable for what the shoppers did with their instruments.

In 2015, a mysterious vigilante hacker known as “Phineas Fisher” hacked Hacking Team and leaked hundreds of the corporate’s inside emails, and — crucially — the spy ware’s supply code. The catastrophic breach prompted key builders to go away the corporate and compelled the corporate to ask clients to quickly cease utilizing its merchandise. Slowly, Hacking Workforce started shedding clients, tried to rebrand, bought a part of its share to Saudi traders, and ultimately was bought to new administration.