Bipartisan lawmakers urge U.S. to sanction three Indian hack-for-hire firms
Senators Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse, together with Rep. Pat Harrigan, asked the Commerce Department to add three Indian cyber-mercenary companies to the sanctions entity list.
Democratic senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, along with Republican Representative Pat Harrigan, sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urging the addition of three Indian hack-for-hire firms to the U.S. sanctions entity list. The firms - BellTroX, CyberRoot and Sunkissed Organic Farms, which previously operated as Appin - are accused of running cyber-espionage campaigns against U.S. citizens, business owners and their attorneys for over ten years, aiming to manipulate legal disputes.
The lawmakers say the companies have also launched an aggressive censorship effort, using foreign courts to suppress coverage of their activities. The letter alleges the firms act on behalf of the Qatari government and have even targeted a former senior Republican lawmaker. While the Commerce Department has not commented, the request follows extensive media investigations into the mercenary hacking industry. Prior legal actions by Appin included a court order in India that temporarily forced one outlet to remove reporting on the company.
Why it matters
If sanctioned, these firms could lose access to U.S. technology, curbing their ability to conduct cyber-attacks on Americans.
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