A group of hackers has pulled an uno reverse card on a Portuguese data-stealing company called WebDetetive, bringing true poetic justice to the story. The hackers not only stole the company’s data but also ruined some of their operations.
The spyware company in question had been infecting Android devices in South America with a special focus on Brazil. As a result, WebDetetive was stealing private data from hundreds of thousands of devices. It remains unclear what the company was doing with this data, but it was most likely being sold to the right buyers for profit.
The anonymous hacker group exploited multiple vulnerabilities to break into the Portuguese company’s servers and user databases. They used this breach to download WebDetetive’s data and also severed the company’s connection to their victims.
The hackers explained their actions saying “Which we definitely did. Because we could. Because #fuckstalkerware.”
Nonprofit DDoSecrets now possesses a data dump of 1.5 gigabytes, which has exposed the full extent of WebDetetive’s impact. When the breach occurred, it compromised a total of 76,794 devices, and within the data trove were 74,336 unique customer email addresses.
Heroes or Villains?
While it remains premature to ascertain the actual identities of the hackers or to confirm their success in disconnecting the victimized devices, their strategy presents a captivating counter-narrative.
In contrast to their typical portrayal as antagonists, these hackers emerge as digital vigilantes in this scenario, enacting a form of poetic justice by employing their expertise to disable a network that encroaches upon individuals’ privacy.
Not the End of WebDetetive
The origins of WebDetetive can be traced back to OwnSpy, a similarly infamous spyware application originating from Spain. Although the individuals behind WebDetetive’s administration maintain their anonymity, the affiliation with OwnSpy implies a more extensive network supporting these malicious endeavors.
