Researchers: Hacking campaign linked to Lebanese spy agency

LONDON – Researchers say a major hacking operation tied to Lebanon’s main intelligence agency has been revealed after careless spies left hundreds of gigabytes of stolen data exposed to the open internet.

Mobile security firm Lookout, Inc. and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said in a joint report published Thursday that the haul includes nearly half a million intercepted text messages and sensitive data on thousands of individuals across the world.

They say it had simply been left online by hackers linked to Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security. The report says digital clues show that the GDGS building was a central node in the spying operation.

The GDGS declined to comment ahead of the report’s publication. (AP)