Australia's police, spy agency linked to controversial hacking company

Australian law enforcement agencies have been closely linked to controversial cyber security company Hacking Team.

Whistle-blowing website Wikileaks released more than one million emails on Thursday, with some revealing that Australia's national spy agency ASIO, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and a Victorian anti-corruption body had exchanged emails with the hacking company.

The leaked emails showed the three agencies had all previously employed or had considered employing the services of Hacking Team.

Hacking Team claims their flagship product can "defeat encryption" while remaining "totally invisible" as it obtains crucial data such as email and text messages.

Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission ( IBAC) was revealed to be in negotiations with the company as recently as two weeks ago.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that the IBAC was given a live demonstration of Hacking Team's flagship product, Remote Control System (RCS), in May this year.

RCS installs malicious software onto a target's phone or laptop, which can remotely access data and turn on microphones and cameras without the target knowing. It then transmits the information back to the software user for analysis.

But spokesperson for the IBAC told the ABC that it "is not a client of Hacking Team and has never purchased any of its services ".

The leaked emails also showed that the AFP were a client of the company until 2011, when an email was sent to the Italian security agency, detailing the AFP's decision to "no longer need the capability (Hacking Team) provides", while a Canberra-based company called Criterion Solutions signed a non-disclosure agreement for access to "confidential" information.

The cyber security company said Criterion Solutions were working for Australia's spy agency ASIO, though ASIO has not confirmed the news.

Hacking Team's Eric Rabe said the breach of security, which resulted in hackers uploading more than 400 gigabytes of information to the internet, could spell danger for the public.

"I am horrified by the criminal attack on our company that has resulted in the ability to have those documents online", he said on Thursday.

"It shows that the criminals who did this have no regard for public safety.

"Police and investigators need to be able to do their work to keep the rest of us safe and the tool that Hacking Team provides is a step in that direction." Endi