Rajat Khare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rajat Khare | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1983 |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Co-founder of Appin |
| Spouse | Shweta Khare |
Rajat Khare is an Indian entrepreneur and investor who co-founded Appin, a New Delhi-based technology company, in December 2003. Now based in Switzerland, he runs Boundary Holding, a Luxembourg-based venture capital firm, with his wife Shweta Khare.
Investigative reports by Reuters, The New Yorker, and SRF Investigativ reported that Appin operated as a hack-for-hire company under Khare's co-directorship, allegedly stealing data from executives, politicians, and military officials worldwide.[1][2][3] Criminal investigations in Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, and by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) linked Khare and Appin to hacking but did not result in charges against him. Through his U.S. law firm Clare Locke, Khare has denied any involvement, stating he "has never operated or supported, and certainly did not create, any illegal 'hack for hire' industry" and that his career has been dedicated to "cyber-defence and the prevention of illicit hacking."
Khare and entities associated with Appin have also pursued extensive legal action against media coverage of the company; Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described the effort as "an offensive on an unprecedented global scale." Khare's Swiss lawyer, Nicolas Capt, said his client took "legitimate legal action—civil and criminal—to protect his honour, which has been damaged by false accusations."[4]
Appin
Khare co-founded Appin in December 2003 as a technology training startup; he was a 20-year-old computer science major at the time.[1] By 2007, Appin had opened a digital security consultancy helping Indian organisations defend themselves online, which drew the attention of Indian government officials who, according to Reuters, were "still feeling their way through intelligence work in the internet age." The company established a subsidiary called Appin Software Security to conduct surveillance for the Indian government; by 2009, its clients included the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the Intelligence Bureau, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).[1]
The New Yorker reported that in 2010, Khare personally sent bulk emails to private intelligence firms across Europe offering what he called "ethical hacking" services. An Appin slide presentation obtained by Reuters, which Khare's lawyers called "a forgery or was doctored",[1] promised that the company could obtain "information that you imagine and also one that you didn't imagine" and explicitly described hacking businessmen on behalf of corporate clients.[2][1]
In January 2012, according to American and Swiss law enforcement documents reviewed by Reuters, a series of spear-phishing emails targeted Peter Hargitay, a Zurich-based FIFA insider and former adviser to FIFA President Sepp Blatter. An expert hired by the Hargitays traced the attack to a server near Zurich Airport whose billing records listed Rajat Khare as the client. After the hack was detected, Khare called Peter Hargitay's son Stevie, saying he "wants to cooperate '100%'."[1] Khare's lawyers told Reuters he "does not know" the Hargitays.[1]
Khare's lawyers said he left Appin in December 2012, a move that "officially and immediately separated him from all Appin entities." Reuters found that Khare's signature appeared on Appin corporate filings dating to 2013 and 2014 and that shareholder data showed he maintained a stake for several years after that. Indian corporate records recorded his resignation as director only in 2016.[1]
Boundary Holding
In 2016, Khare resigned as director of the company formerly known as Appin Technology and moved to Switzerland, where, SRF Investigativ reported, "he now presents himself as a renowned start-up investor."[1][3] Together with his wife Shweta, he runs Boundary Holding, a Luxembourg-based venture capital firm.[5]
Boundary Holding's portfolio has included Cerbair, a French anti-drone company; Cysec, which organised a bug bounty programme for the European Space Agency; and the big data geolocation firm Kido Dynamics.[5] Intelligence Online reported in 2022 that Khare maintained close relations with Qatar and had helped portfolio companies win security contracts for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, describing him as having "industrialised the practice of hacking for hire."[5]