How HackingTeam's software works

(ANSA) - Rome, July 9 - Italian Internet surveillance company HackingTeam, which has lost command of its Remote Control System (RCS), created the spy program in 2003 to help governments control computers remotely and monitor the information that passes through them.
    The software, also known as Galileo, can target computers even if they are not connected to the Internet. It can infiltrate many operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS and Linux, and smart phones such as Windows Phone, iPhone and Blackberry.
    "The gathering of evidence on these devices is invisible and the transmission of data to the RCS servers is encrypted and untraceable," the company says on its web site.
    Based on internal HackingTeam documents published by Wikileaks.org, the software is described as an aggressive system that "allows security services to attack and control certain PCs from afar," bypassing the encryption of communication tools such as Skype.
    The Italian company, which was attacked by hackers on July 6, has said sufficient code was released to permit anyone to deploy the software against any target of their choice, and described the situation as "extremely dangerous".
    Internet criminals have reportedly already taken possession of HackingTeam's technology to launch attacks, including some exploiting a bug in the Adobe Flash Player software.