New Delhi: A bipartisan group of three US lawmakers has asked the Trump administration to block three Indian companies from accessing American technology, accusing them of running paid hacking and spying operations against US targets and trying to silence media coverage through overseas courts.
Democratic senators Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with Republican congressman Pat Harrigan, sent a letter on Wednesday to US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. They want BellTroX, CyberRoot and Sunkissed Organic Farms — formerly Appin Technology — placed on the commerce department’s Entity List, a move that would restrict their use of US software, cloud services and cybersecurity tools, as first reported by TechCrunch and carried by The Wire.
The letter describes the three as India-based “cyber-mercenary groups” that have carried out targeted espionage against US citizens, businesses and lawyers for more than 15 years.
Bid To Restrict US Tech Supplies
“These hackers have systematically subverted the US legal and financial sectors, targeting private equity firms, pharmaceutical companies and more than 1,000 attorneys across major US law firms to manipulate ongoing litigation,” the lawmakers wrote.
They also allege the groups stole data from thousands of Americans and are using foreign courts to suppress reporting on their activities. “Simultaneously, these actors have mounted an aggressive censorship campaign to suppress public awareness of their illicit activities, directly threatening American free speech and press freedom.”
The letter claims the operations were run “at the behest of the Qatari government” and says the family of a former Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence was among those targeted, as reported by The Wire.
“While one of these operatives has been indicted by the Department of Justice, the foreign hackers continue to operate with impunity,” the lawmakers wrote.
Foreign Courts Block US Reporting
The request follows years of investigations into the hack-for-hire industry, including reporting by Reuters, The New Yorker and the Citizen Lab on Appin, BellTroX and CyberRoot.
Executives linked to Appin once obtained a global court order from an Indian court requiring Reuters to remove its investigation into the company. Reuters challenged the order, which was later lifted, allowing the report to be republished.
Citing this case, the letter warns against using foreign legal systems to hide cyber threats from Americans. “This coordinated effort effectively allows foreign entities to use foreign courts to keep the American public in the dark about cyber threats to their own country and undermines the fundamental constitutional rights of US citizens,” they wrote.
TechCrunch also noted that the Electronic Frontier Foundation had earlier defended Techdirt and the MuckRock Foundation against legal threats after Appin allegedly tried to suppress reporting on its mercenary hacking.
Push To Block US Tech Access
The lawmakers are asking the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to add the three firms to the Entity List.
“We request that the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security add the following companies … to the Entity List to cut off their access to American software, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity tools,” they wrote.
Such a listing can stop US companies from exporting or transferring certain goods, software and technology to the named entities without a licence.
TechCrunch said emails to Anuj Khare, a director at Sunkissed Organic Farms, and to CyberRoot representatives went unanswered; BellTroX could not be reached, and the Qatar government did not respond.
