Appin (company)

Defunct Indian cybersecurity training institution

AppinIndustry| Computer security

|

Founded| 2003
Founder|

* Rajat Khare
* Anuj Khare

Headquarters|

New Delhi

India

Services|

* Cyber spying
* Cyber warfare
* Social engineering
* Cybersecurity training

Appin was an Indian cyberespionage company started in 2003 and run by brothers Rajat and Anuj Khare. Although it initially started as a cybersecurity training firm, by 2010 the company had begun providing hacking services for governments and corporate clients.[1] In 2013, a report by Shadowserver Foundation pointed to evidence linking Appin to several hacks of high-profile organizations.[2]

The company offered what its founders termed "ethical hacking" services.[3][4] Appin reportedly hacked into private computers on behalf of both government and private clients.[5][3][6][7] The firm rebranded in 2022 and its employees went on to form other similar firms including CyberRoot Risk Advisory and BellTroX InfoTech Services.[3]

## Controversies

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Appin and co-founder Rajat Khare have pressured news sources in multiple countries, including France, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, to remove references in articles to the company and Khare.[8][9][10]

On November 16, 2023, Reuters published an article about the company titled, "How an Indian Startup Hacked the World." The article alleged that Appin "grew from an educational startup to a hack-for-hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians, military officials and wealthy elites around the globe."[11]

Appin sued Reuters, claiming the news agency had engaged in a "defamatory campaign."[12][4] It obtained an injunction from a Delhi court and, on December 4, 2023, Reuters temporarily removed its article. Reuters said that it stood by its reporting.[13][4][14] An archived version of the Reuters article hosted on the Wayback Machine was likewise removed following demands from lawyers representing Appin co-founder Rajat Khare.[15] Appin further sent demands to Meta Platforms, LinkedIn and Naukri.com to block accounts associated with the authors of the Reuters story.[10]

In February 2024, Wired reported that lawyers for Appin and a related entity called the "Association for Appin Training Centers" have filed lawsuits and made legal threats against more than a dozen news organizations. Appin sent emails demanding news site Techdirt and the organization MuckRock which hosted some of the information Reuters relied on. The two sites denied that the injunction was binding on them.[16][9][17] Other sites, such as the Lawfare blog, removed material based on the Reuters article.[4][16]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Satter, Raphael; Bing, Christopher (2022-06-30). "How mercenary hackers swat litigation battles".
2. ^ Fagerland, Snorre; Kråkvik, Morten; Camp, Jonathan (2013). "Operation Hangover: Unveiling an Indian Cyberattack Infrastructure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
3. ^ a b c Kirkpatrick, David (1 June 2023). "A Confession Exposes India's Secret Hacking Industry". The New Yorker. Retrieved 20 Nov 2023.
4. ^ a b c d "The Hack-for-Hire Industry: Death by a Thousand Cuts + When Theft Doesn't Work... Troll". Default. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
5. ^ Satter, Raphael (16 Nov 2023). "How an Indian startup hacked the world". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-11-17. Retrieved 20 Nov 2023.
6. ^ Wild, Franz (11 May 2022). "Inside the global hack-for-hire industry". Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 20 Nov 2023.
7. ^ Tom Hegel (November 16, 2023). Elephant Hunting: Inside an Indian Hack-For-Hire Group (Report). SentinelLabs. Archived from the original on 17 Nov 2023.
8. ^ Ingram, Mathew. "A leak-hosting site looks to thaw the chill of censorship". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
9. ^ a b Greenberg, Andy (February 1, 2024). "A Startup Allegedly Hacked the World. Then Came the Censorship—and Now the Backlash".
10. ^ a b "Global censorship campaign raises alarms". Freedom of the Press. 2024-01-18. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
11. ^ Lizza, Ryan; Bade, Rachael; Daniels, Eugene (2023-11-18). "Playbook: Biden vs. Haley on abortion". POLITICO. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
12. ^ Omar, Rashid (December 7, 2023). "Forced To Pull Story On Indian Firm's Alleged Global Hacking Operation, Reuters To Fight Court Order". The Wire.
13. ^ Masnick, Mike (2023-12-07). "Indian Court Orders Reuters To Take Down Investigative Report Regarding A 'Hack-For-Hire' Company". Techdirt.
14. ^ Cox ·, Joseph (2023-12-06). "Reuters Takes Down Blockbuster Hacker-for-Hire Investigation After Indian Court Order". 404 Media. Retrieved 2023-12-18.
15. ^ Schaffer, Michael (2024-01-19). "How a Judge in India Prevented Americans From Seeing a Blockbuster Report". POLITICO. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
16. ^ a b Masnick, Mike (2024-02-01). "Sorry Appin, We're Not Taking Down Our Article About Your Attempts To Silence Reporters". Techdirt. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
17. ^ "The Association of Appin Training Centers is waging a global censorship campaign to stop you from reading these documents". MuckRock. 2024-02-01. Retrieved 2024-02-10.

## External links

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* A PowerPoint slide with Appin surveillance proposals provided to a Swiss private investigator on Nov. 22, 2010