A Swiss company that contracts with some of the world’s biggest names is being accused of selling access to governments for surveillance purposes. Mitto AG, a leading provider of text messaging services to many of the world’s most familiar names in tech, sold backdoor access to its network according to former employees and clients.
The scheme was allegedly run by co-founder and chief operating officer Ilja Gorelik and was only known to a small group of high-level employees.
Mitto AG has carved out a niche as a leading contractor for handling automated direct messages for tech and sales platforms, particularly those going to and from areas of the world that Western companies do not have a presence in (for example, a good deal of the Middle East). The company contracts with Google, Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn and China’s biggest domestic tech firms among its portfolio of about 100 global clients.
According to a Bloomberg News investigation, sourced from anonymous former employees and clients of Mitto AG, the highest levels of the company were also providing governments with backdoor access to its text messaging services on the side. Examples of what buyers might have had access to include two-factor verification codes, temporary passwords, and appointment reminders. Access to these messages also would have likely provided substantial information about what surveillance targets were buying on various...
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