A hacker working for Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel infiltrated the cell phone of an FBI agent stationed in Mexico City, using the compromised files to hit upon and target authorities informants, according to a fresh audit obtained by Reuters.
The breach, described as allotment of an FBI overview into technological vulnerabilities, revealed that the cartel-linked hacker accessed incoming and outgoing name logs besides to the geolocation files of the agent’s instrument.
The timeframe of the breach stays unclear, as does the identification of the hacker and the agent eager. Using files gathered from the compromised cell phone, the hacker reportedly accessed Mexico City‘s public surveillance digicam map.
This allowed the cartel to display screen the agent’s meetings and name authorities sources. “The cartel used that information to intimidate and, in some instances, kill potential sources or cooperating witnesses,” the convey acknowledged.
The audit warned that publicly readily available surveillance tools and trends in mobile tracking indulge in made covert operations an increasing number of sophisticated.
“New technologies have made it easier than ever for less-sophisticated nations and criminal enterprises to identify and exploit vulnerabilities,” the FBI concluded.
The breach shows rising security threats posed by sophisticated felony networks. Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel, for instance, continues to wield fundamental affect no topic Guzmán’s imprisonment within the US following his 2017 extradition.
The threat extends beyond surveillance because the cartel continues to grow in affect, price range, and in consequence, in tech. A memo obtained by the New York Put up warned that Mexican cartel leaders licensed the utilize of explosive-encumbered drones towards US Border Patrol and armed forces personnel.
February 1, 2025, an alaert from the El Paso Sector Intelligence and Operations Heart urged brokers to put on ballistic equipment and convey drone sightings. Cartel violence continues to escalate.
Earleir this one year Border Patrol brokers in Fronton, Texas, came below fire from cartel gunmen in each place in the border. The shooters reportedly fled from the Mexican armed forces earlier than withdrawing to an island within the Rio Grande.
Online, cartels indulge in worn platforms worship TikTok to name for violence towards US immigration authorities. Some posts impressed illegal immigrants to assault ICE brokers, vandalize vehicles, and target border personnel for assassination, according to Fox Data.
