A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has written to the Trump administration seeking action against three India-based companies that allegedly hacked and stole data from thousands of Americans and US companies. According to reports from Reuters, Democratic Senators Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse, and Republican Pat Harrigan have urged Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to take action against Sunkissed Organic Pvt Ltd, BellTrox Ltd, and CyberRoot Ltd. The Senators contend that these companies hacked and stole data from thousands of Americans and US companies over more than 15 years. As reported by Reuters, the lawmakers' letter accuses the firms of carrying out over fifteen years of espionage aimed at American citizens, corporations and the legal professionals who represent them.
The bipartisan group has now specifically requested that the Department of Commerce add these companies to the U.S. Entity List, which would restrict their access to American technology and exports. According to recent reports, the Commerce Department had not announced a decision at the time of reporting. Entity List designation would bar the companies from accessing US-origin software, cloud services and cybersecurity products, representing a significant escalation from previous demands for action. This represents a significant escalation from previous demands for action, as the lawmakers are now seeking formal government restrictions on these companies' operations.
Investigations by Reuters and The Citizen Lab revealed that these companies conducted widespread hacking campaigns targeting private equity firms, pharmaceutical companies, and more than 1,000 attorneys across major US law firms to manipulate ongoing litigation. The Senators allege that there is evidence these groups operated at the behest of the Qatari government, targeting opponents of Qatar's World Cup bid and the family of a former Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. According to the Senators' statement, these cyber mercenaries and their associates have engaged in an aggressive campaign of global lawfare to censor investigative reporting by prominent American media organisations. The 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. The same companies also attempted to censor reporting about their hacking campaigns by abusing foreign courts at one point forcing a global takedown of the investigation, as alleged by the Senators.
According to the Senators' statement reported by Reuters, these cyber mercenaries and their associates have engaged in an aggressive campaign of global lawfare to censor investigative reporting by prominent American media organisations. The 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. The same companies also attempted to censor reporting about their hacking campaigns by abusing foreign courts at one point forcing a global takedown of the investigation, as alleged by the Senators. The Electronic Frontier Foundation defended Techdirt and the MuckRock Foundation against legal threats that it characterized as part of Appin's effort to suppress reporting on alleged mercenary hacking. Appin obtained an Indian court order that temporarily required Reuters to remove reporting about the company, though the order was later lifted and Reuters republished its report.
As reported by Reuters, the Indian companies have ongoing lawsuits against US technology and media companies, including Google, Meta, Microsoft and The New Yorker, to silence criticism and bury facts about their illegal hacking campaigns. The Senators called on the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security to add the three companies to the Entity List to cut off their access to American software, Cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity tools. According to the Senators' statement, these companies have ongoing lawsuits against US technology and media companies to silence criticism and bury facts about their illegal hacking campaigns.
