Commercial software used in suspected state-backed hacking

San Francisco

A PREVIOUSLY undisclosed hacking campaign against military targets in Israel and Europe is probably backed by a country that misused security-testing software to cover its tracks and enhance its capability, researchers said.

The attack program relied on software usually sold by Boston-based Core Security to companies and other customers that want to test their own defences, said researchers coordinated by Israel's independent Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT.