14 DAY TRIAL // The scandal that formed around the defunct News of the World (NotW) led to an investigation that revealed a lot of interesting details about how the journalists obtained their information.
But so far no one knew the identity of the hackers that aided the media organization to gain access to the victims’ private data. Now, it turns out that one of the hackers is a security consultant named Philip Campbell Smith.
According to The Guardian, this is not the first investigation in which Smith is suspected of hacking into computers. Besides Operation Tuleta, Scotland Yard included Smith in another one of its inquiries, part of Operation Kalmyk, examining allegations that others may have also fallen victim to Smith’s dirty doings.
Previously known to the public as “X” due to public reporting restrictions, Smith is accused of hacking into the computer of a former army intelligence officer Ian Hurst, time during which he maintained contact with Andy Coulson, a NotW editor back in 2006 when the incident occurred.
Investigators believe that the suspect gained access to Hurst’s personal information with the aid of a Trojan which he sent via email in July 2006. The backdoor Trojan allegedly accessed the victim’s emails, hard drive, social media accounts and even his web cam, sending all the information back to Smith.
A couple of informants, Freddie Scappaticci, aka Stakeknife, and Kevin Fulton, both considered targets for assassins, may have also been exposed by the hacker after he stumbled upon some emails in which their location was disclosed.
It’s said that a private investigator called Jonathan Rees, who also offered his services to Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, was the one who introduced Smith to NotW.
In the other investigation that’s pending, the hacker is considered to be responsible for hacking the computers of public figures such as Gordon Brown, Alastair Campbell, Tom Watson, and Peter Hain, all members of the Labour Party.