Spyware peddler Hacking Team is moaning that, since its internal source code was leaked online, its tools for infecting PCs with malware are now in the hands of “terrorists and extortionists.” The Italian biz is not wrong … in a way: the leaked code, which exploits vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash and the Windows operating system to hijack computers, has already made its way into criminals’ toolkits. But one could argue that it would have been highly useful if Hacking Team hadn’t left this sort of code lying around for someone to steal in the first place.
Adobe has now patched the security bug in its Flash plugin, and Microsoft is working on a fix for its vulnerable kernel driver. “It is now apparent that a major threat exists because of the posting by cyber criminals of Hacking Team proprietary software on the internet the night of July 6,” reads a statement on the Hacking Team website.
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