The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has made assurances that all of its investigations comply with the law following reports that Macau’s anti-graft agency had shown interest in acquiring cyber-surveillance software.
Emails recently disclosed by WikiLeaks indicate that the CCAC and the Judiciary Police (PJ)
met in Macau with representatives of the Italian IT company Hacking Team (Singapore office) for a demo of the RCS (Remote Control System) technology. The system is often sold to law enforcement and national security agencies around the globe, allowing them to hack into targets’ computers and mobile devices, and easily monitor them.
Emails exchanged between a CCAC employee and a Hacking Team representative in Singapore show that Macau’s anti-graft agency had shown interest in acquiring the company’s RCS software. They scheduled a meeting in Macau for a software demonstration, as revealed yesterday by newspaper Ponto Final.
The emails show that the CCAC representative suggested the meeting be held at the hotel where Hacking Team representatives would be staying: “Due to security concerns, we need to conduct the demo outside our organization. I suggest the demo to be held in the hotel room you booked,” the CCAC employee wrote.
The meeting is reported to have taken place in October 2013 at a hotel in Taipa. In an email sent by a security and defense technology executive based in Switzerland, and addressed to a representative of Hacking Team’s Singapore Office, it is revealed that the CCAC was interested in monitoring smartphones.
“We are in a good position to sell, as they are keen to monitor smartphones. But, from our previous sale, we know that they want to make sure they buy equipment they fully understand and are capable of using,” the email reads.
Hacking Team’s promotional material highlights its software capabilities: “Hack into your targets with the most advanced infection vectors available (…) Remote Control System: the hacking suite for governmental interception. Right at your fingertips.”
CCAC issued a statement yesterday stressing that its investigations fully comply with Macau’s laws: “One of the main duties of the CCAC is to suppress and investigate crimes of corruption and related fraud crimes [occurring] within [the] activities of public and private sectors.” The anti-graft agency added that “[The CCAC] is entitled to carry out enquiries and investigations deemed necessary to fulfill its goals.”
As corruption crimes evolve, the CCAC says it needs to keep track of technological developments “from the perspective of detection and counter-detection.”
In a press conference held yesterday, the New Macau Association (ANM) expressed “great concern over the jeopardy to privacy of all Macau citizens, as we may have been threatened by discretionary intrusion and surveillance from our government.”
“My speculation is that it [the hacking system] serves to closely monitor activists, journalists and citizens. I can speculate that the PJ is trying to play the role of political police,” said Jason Chao, who is currently a member of the association’s board.
ANM said that it passed relevant materials to the Public Prosecutions Office, demanding that an investigation be launched into the Judiciary Police’s use of spying tools along with possible law breaches.
The emails exchanged between Hacking Team’s employees and Macau’s security forces show no clear evidence that the CCAC or the PJ bought the surveillance system. However, an email sent by a PJ agent asks for help to install it. CP
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