Major Adobe Flash security flaw discovered in Hacking Team leak

LONDON – Software maker Adobe says it is fixing a critical flaw revealed by the spectacular attack on Italian surveillance company Hacking Team.

Sunday’s breach sent over 400 gigabytes of Hacking Team’s internal data coursing into the public domain, some of which was posted to the company’s Twitter account briefly. According to The Verge, one tweet appeared to show an email from Hacking Team CEO David Vincenzetti mocking a competitor for being “severely hacked.”

Although the focus has largely been on the Milan-based company’s email correspondence, Hacking Team also appears to have lost control of the surveillance software used to spy on its targets.

Security researchers say malicious actors have wasted little time in looting the stricken company’s electronic arsenal and are now adopting Hacking Team’s tools for their own attacks.

One such tool is aimed at taking advantage of previously unknown bug in Adobe Flash Player to hijack targeted computers. The flaw affects Windows, OS X, and Linux, and can be used against browsers like IE, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.

Adobe Systems Inc. says it hoped to patch the bug later Wednesday; however, experts suggest users stay away from using the software until a fix is available.

The company, known for selling malicious spyware to police and spy agencies, confirmed Wednesday that its own investigation revealed that enough code was released to allow anyone to use the software against any target of their choice.

“Before the attack, HackingTeam could control who had access to the technology which was sold exclusively to governments and government agencies. Now, because of the work of criminals, that ability to control who uses the technology has been lost. Terrorists, extortionists and others can deploy this technology at will if they have the technical ability to do so,” read a statement posted to the company’s website.

“We believe this is an extremely dangerous situation.”

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– With files from Global News