NEW YORK, Feb 1 — A United Arab Emirates senior diplomat denied yesterday the country had targeted “friendly countries” or US citizens in a cyberspying programme that a Reuters report said involved a hacking team of US mercenaries.
The Reuters investigation published on Wednesday found that the UAE used a group of US intelligence contractors to help hack rival governments, dissidents and human rights activists. The contractors, former US intelligence operatives, formed a core part of UAE’s cyber hacking programme called Project Raven.
Project Raven also targeted US citizens, and the Apple Inc iPhones of embassy staff for France, Australia and the United Kingdom, according to former operatives and program documents reviewed by Reuters.
Apple has declined to comment and did not immediately respond to a request for comment yesterday.
When asked about Project Raven by reporters at a briefing in New York, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash acknowledged the country has a “cyber capability,” but denied targeting US citizens or countries with which it has good relations.
“We live in a very difficult part of the world. We have to protect ourselves,” Gargash said. “We don’t target friendly countries and we don’t target American citizens.”
The French and UK embassies in Washington have declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Australian ministry of foreign affairs has declined to comment. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Reuters
