American Hacker Mercenaries Face U.S. Charges for Work in UAE
Three former U.S. intelligence operatives, who went to work
as mercenary hackers for the United Arab Emirates, face federal charges of
conspiring to violate hacking laws, according to Justice Department court
documents filed on Tuesday.
The three men, Marc Baier, Ryan Adams, and Daniel Gericke,
were part of a clandestine unit named Project Raven, that helped the United
Arab Emirates spy on its enemies.
The defendants are being charged also with military export
restriction violations.
"Defendants used illicit, fraudulent, and criminal
means, including the use of advanced covert hacking systems that utilized
computer exploits obtained from the United States and elsewhere, to gain
unauthorized access to protected computers in the United States and elsewhere
and to illicitly obtain information," the court document states.
Reuters previously reported
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-spying-raven that Baier
was a program manager for Project Raven. Adams and Gericke were operators
within the effort, helping the UAE hack its targets.
Prosecutors wrote in a separate filing that they have
promised to drop the charges if the three men cooperate with U.S. authorities,
pay a financial penalty, agree to unspecified employment restrictions and
acknowledge responsibility for their actions.
Text messages sent to Baier and Adams requesting comment
went unanswered. A social media message to Gericke also did not receive an
immediate response.
“The Bureau’s dedication to justice is commendable, and I
have the utmost respect for the agents assigned to this case," said Lori
Stroud, a former NSA analyst who worked on Project Raven and then acted as a
whistleblower https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-spying-raven.
"However, the most significant catalyst to bringing
this issue to light was investigative journalism - the timely, technical
information reported created the awareness and momentum to ensure justice.”
The court documents describe how the three helped the UAE
design, procure and deploy hacking capabilities over multiple years. Their
victims allegedly included U.S. citizens, which Reuters previously reported
based on information provided by Stroud.
Former program operatives previously told Reuters they
believed they were following the law because superiors promised them the U.S.
government had approved the work.
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