A Mexican cartel hacker used an FBI agent’s phone records and public cameras to track down and intimidate — and even kill — government informants, according to a startling new report.
The hacker — hired by the vicious Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán — broke into the phone of an FBI assistant legal attaché stationed at the US Embassy in Mexico City, and was able to extract an alarming amount of information that led the criminals straight to government informants.
It remains unclear exactly when the hacking operation happened or how long it lasted, but it was revealed in a recent FBI audit investigating how the bureau can battle new technology threats, Reuters reported.
The hacker was able to break into the agent’s phone remotely and watch their incoming and outgoing calls, and even monitor the phone’s geolocation, according to the report.
Once armed with that data, the hacker gained access to Mexico City’s street surveillance cameras to follow the FBI agent to see who they were meeting with.
“The cartel used that information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses,” the report read.
It remains unclear how many informants were compromised by the hacking operation, or who the FBI agent at the center of it was.
The identity of the hacker also remains unclear.
Public surveillance infrastructure coupled with cellular data has made it increasingly difficult to carry out covert operations abroad, especially for agents who depend on informants to access their targets.
New technologies “have made it easier than ever for less-sophisticated nations and criminal enterprises to identify and exploit vulnerabilities,” the report read.
El Chapo remains imprisoned in the US after being arrested and extradited in 2017.
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