"Hack of Italian surveillance firm uncovers contract with Egypt:, 6 July 2015

An unknown team of hackers released a bundle of files on Sunday revealing that the Defense Ministry has an active contract with a notorious Italian surveillance company...The leaked documents include a 2012 invoice for 58,000 euros to the Egypt-based company GNSE Group. According to its website, GNSE was founded in 2001 as part of the privately owned Mansour Group to "enable e-businesses." Ramy Raoof, a digital rights and security researcher, told Mada Masr that most governments in the Middle East don’t interact directly with surveillance companies, but rather rely on a middleman to sign such contracts. Governments are typically wary of a ministry’s name appearing on any bank records in case a scandal should erupt, Raoof explained. But the hacked client list released on Sunday shows that in addition to the GNSE Group, the Hacking Team also lists the Defense Ministry as its original contractor in Egypt...