An India-based computer hacking gang targeted critics of the World Cup in Qatar, an investigation by British journalists said on Sunday, as the Qatari government furiously denied playing any role in ordering the wiretapping.
A database leaked to Britain’s Sunday Times and Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed the 2019 hacking of a dozen lawyers, journalists and celebrities “on behalf of a specific client,” the newspaper and bureau said in a statement .
“This investigation strongly suggests that this customer is the host of the World Cup Qatar,” it said, prompting Qatari authorities to label the allegation as “manifestly false and unfounded.”
Among the victims was Michel Platini, the former boss of European football.
Platini, who was hacked before talks with French police about World Cup-related transplant claims, told AFP he was “surprised and deeply shocked” by the report.
He said he will explore all possible legal avenues over what appears to be a serious “violation” of his privacy.
London-based consultant Ghanem Nuseibeh, whose firm Cornerstone prepared a report on World Cup-related corruption, was also targeted, the Sunday Times said in its report based on the joint investigation.
Others included Nathalie Goulet, a French senator and vocal critic of Qatar for alleged funding of “Islamic terrorism,” and Mark Somos, a Germany-based lawyer who filed a complaint about the Qatari royal family with the United Nations Human Rights Council.
– Over 100 targeted –
The controversy comes two weeks before the World Cup kicks off in the conservative Gulf state on November 20.
The newspaper claimed that the hacking was directed by a 31-year-old clerk at an accounting firm, who denies the claims.
Its network of computer hackers, based in the suburbs of India’s tech town of Gurugram, near Delhi, is said to have ensnared its targets with “phishing” techniques to gain access to their email inboxes, and sometimes malicious software used to take control of their computer cameras and microphones.
However, hacking attacks were not limited to those interested in the World Cup in Qatar.
In all, the personal email accounts of more than 100 victims were targeted by the gang “on behalf of investigators working for autocratic states, British lawyers and their wealthy clients,” the report said.
This included politicians dealing with Russia issues, such as former British Treasury Secretary Philip Hammond.
He was targeted at a time when he was dealing with the aftermath of the 2018 Novichok attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal, which the UK has blamed on Russia.
The Swiss president and his deputy were also hacked days after the president met then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss Russian sanctions.
The gang also took control of computers owned by Pakistani politicians and generals and had their conversations monitored “apparently at the behest of Indian intelligence agencies,” the Sunday Times added.
– ‘No proof’ –
A Qatari official denied the allegations, describing the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) report as “littered with blatant inconsistencies and untruths that undermine the credibility of their organization”.
“The report relies on a single source that claims its ultimate client was Qatar, although there is no evidence to support this,” the official told AFP in a statement.
“Numerous companies have also boasted of no ties to Qatar to raise their profile in the run-up to the World Cup.
“The TBIJ’s decision to release the report without any credible evidence to link their allegations to Qatar raises serious concerns about their motives, which appear to be driven by political rather than public interests,” added the officer added.
