Three Indian technology firms accused of running hacking-for-hire operations against American targets could soon face US trade restrictions, after a bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed the Commerce Department to act.
Senators Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse, both Democrats, joined Republican Representative Pat Harrigan in a letter sent Wednesday seeking to place BellTroX, CyberRoot, and Sunkissed Organic Farms Pvt. Ltd — the renamed entity previously known as Appin Technology Pvt. Ltd, along with its subsidiaries, on the Commerce Department's Entity List, according to Reuters.
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Inclusion on the list would bar the companies from accessing US-origin software, cloud services and cybersecurity products.
The lawmakers' letter accuses the firms of carrying out over fifteen years of espionage aimed at American citizens, corporations and the legal professionals who represent them, Reuters reported.
This is not the first time the three companies have drawn scrutiny.
A Reuters' report in 2022 flagged CyberRoot and BellTroX as significant players within the global cybermercenary trade, alleging they were routinely engaged by lawyers and private investigators in the West to conduct surveillance on rival parties amid litigation and commercial disagreements.
A follow-up investigation in 2023 traced Appin's evolution from a modest educational venture into what the news agency called a hack-for-hire powerhouse, one accused of siphoning confidential information from business leaders, politicians, senior military figures and affluent individuals globally. All three firms' executives have rejected the allegations.
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Beyond Reuters, scrutiny of the companies has come from The New Yorker and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, alongside technology giants Meta and Google, which have jointly issued three separate reports documenting hacking campaigns tied to the group.
The controversy has also spilled into Indian courts, where Reuters is currently contesting a lawsuit brought by the Association of Appin Training Centers.
The group, which claims to speak for former Appin students, alleges that Reuters' reporting has tarnished the standing of training institutes and their graduates — a charge the news agency firmly rejects. That case remains unresolved.
If adopted, the lawmakers' request would mark one of the most significant US regulatory actions yet against India's disputed hack-for-hire sector.
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