{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-harrigan-and-whitehouse-call-on-commerce-department-to-sanction-mercenary-foreign-hacking-firms", "Wyden, Harrigan and Whitehouse Call on Commerce Department to Sanction Mercenary Foreign Hacking Firms", "2026-09-09", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "OR", "Ron Wyden", "W000779", "www.wyden.senate.gov", "wyden", "https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Bipartisan Members of Congress Urge Secretary Lutnick to Take Action Against Three Indian Companies Linked to Hacks of Thousands of Americans and U.S. Companies; Hacking Companies Silenced U.S. Journalists, News Outlets and Technology Companies In Foreign Courts To Censor Reporting\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D- R.I. and Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., called for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to take action against three companies based in India that have hacked and stolen data from thousands of Americans and U.S. companies.\n\n\u201cSeveral India-based cyber-mercenary groups have spent more than fifteen years conducting targeted espionage against U.S. citizens, businesses and the lawyers representing them,\u201d Wyden, Harrigan and Whitehouse wrote to Lutnick. \u201cCompounding this security threat, these cyber mercenaries and their associates have engaged in an aggressive campaign of global lawfare to censor investigative reporting by prominent American media organizations. This coordinated effort effectively allows foreign entities to use foreign courts to keep the American public in the dark about cyber threats to their own country and undermines the fundamental constitutional rights of U.S. citizens.\u201d\n\nAccording to investigations by Reuters and The Citizen Lab, these companies conducted widespread hacking campaigns targeting private equity firms, pharmaceutical companies, and more than 1,000 attorneys across major U.S. law firms to manipulate ongoing litigation. There is evidence that these groups have operated at the behest of the Qatari government, targeting opponents of Qatar\u2019s World Cup bid and the family of a former Republican Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.\n\nThese same companies also have attempted to censor reporting about their hacking campaigns by abusing foreign courts \u2014 at one point forcing a global takedown of Reuters\u2019 investigation. The Indian companies have ongoing lawsuits against U.S. technology and media companies, including Google, Meta, Microsoft and The New Yorker to silence criticism and bury facts about their illegal hacking campaigns.\n\nThe members called on the Commerce Department\u2019s Bureau of Industry and Security to add three companies identified by Reuters and Citizen Lab as the perpetrators of these major hacking operations\u2014 to the Entity List to cut off their access to American software, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity tools:\n\nSunkissed Organic Farms Pvt. Ltd. (formerly known as \u201cAppin Technology Pvt. Ltd.\u201d) and its subsidiaries, including:\n\nAdaptive Control Security Global Corporate Pvt. Ltd. (formerly known as \u201cAppin Software Security Pvt. Ltd.\u201d or \u201cAppin Security Group\u201d)\n\nABP Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (formerly known as \u201cKGW Appin Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd.\u201d)\n\nBellTroX Pvt. Ltd.\n\nCyberRoot Pvt. Ltd.\n\nThe full letter is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-10T09:25:58Z", "2026-09-10T09:27:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-harrigan-and-whitehouse-call-on-commerce-department-to-sanction-mercenary-foreign-hacking-firms"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.53261236846447, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}