14 DAY TRIAL // For the past few years, British authorities have been trying to get to the bottom of the phone hacking scandal that revolves around the now defunct News of the World (NOTW). However, it turns out that the media industry isn’t the only one that hires hackers.
According to a Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) report obtained by The Independent, law firms, insurance companies, and telecoms giants are also hiring hackers. SOCA learned of this six years ago, but it wasn’t mentioned in the Leveson Inquiry.
One of the hackers identified by SOCA reportedly admitted that 80% of his customers were not part of the media industry. Instead, they were law firms, debt collectors, insurance companies, and high-net worth individuals.
A source told The Independent that private investigators were hired by a major telecoms company, a celebrity, a media personality who wanted to know if his employee was selling confidential information to business rivals, and a businessman who wanted intel on his rivals.