How a Tiny Startup Became the Most Important Hacking Shop You’ve Never Heard Of Inside the secretive industry that helps government hackers get around encryption.

From Motherboard

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At first glance, Azimuth Security looks like any other bustling startup. Photos tweeted by the firm’s co-founder show a staffer zipping in front of glass-walled conference rooms on a hoverboard and employees in T-shirts playing with a stylish chess set over a beer. But this small Australian company plays a crucial role in the continuous battle for spies and cops to hack into phones around the world, Motherboard has learned.

The story of this little-known company provides a rare peek inside the secretive exploit trade, which is populated with military contractors, individual researchers, and boutique high-end hacking shops like Azimuth. While the trade is commonly painted as a wild west full of mercenaries who sell hacking tools to whoever can afford them, over a dozen well-placed sources described an overlooked section of the industry that focuses on supplying to a select group of democratic governments, rather than authoritarian regimes.

These companies keep a low profile. They don’t advertise their wares at surveillance fairs and keep the information on their public websites vague. But they do sell hacking software to police and intelligence agencies.

(Motherboard granted most sources for this story anonymity to speak about sensitive industry details.)

Read more: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8xdayg/iphone-zero-days-inside-azimuth-security

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So are these blackhat or whitehat hackers? I don't think just because they help government that means they are necessarily hacking for good. Some would argue that is explicitly hacking for evil. It seems like a profession that could be fraught with anxiety. What if you can't find a good zero day for months to resell what do you do for pay? Well you do have a certain set of skills.... I bet these guys are helping both sides.

Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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