El Chapo drug cartel reportedly tracked and killed informants by hacking an FBI phone

The Mexican Sinaloa cartel hired a hacker to track and surveil the FBI, then used that information to intimidate and even kill witnesses against drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, according to a Justice Department report spotted by Ars Technica. The hacker used relatively sophisticated data collection techniques and weaknesses in the FBI's cybersecurity to identify the witnesses, the report states.

According to the highly redacted report, which is based in part on testimony from an "individual connected to the cartel," the hacker offered gang leaders "a menu of services related to to exploiting mobile phones and other electronic devices."

The hacker "observed people going in and out of the United States Embassy in Mexico City" and identified people of interest, including the FBI's Assistant Legal Attache (ALAT). They used the ALAT's mobile phone number to "obtain calls made and received, as well as geolocation data associated ...