(ANSA) - Milan, November 3 - Computer surveillance software allegedly sold by former Hacking Team collaborators may have ended up in the hands of jihadi militants, prosecutors said Tuesday. On Tuesday police carried out searches against Mala Srl, a Turin-based company founded by Guido Landi and Mostapha Maanna, who used to work for the Italian Internet surveillance company. The search came after investigators found a payment made by a company in Saudi Arabia.

The sum of "299,970 euros" paid by the Saudi company Saudi Technology Development to Mala Srl is allegedly "the payment for the provision of services concerning computer breaches" and particularly "software to neutralise or reproduce Remote Control System", the spy programme created by Hacking Team, it said in the search warrant.

The spyware purchase may have been ordered by Islamic militants or by foreign military officials or governments, prosecutors said.

In July Hacking Team said it had come under attack and lost control of its flagship RCS spy program.

"We have lost control of the capacity to control who uses our technology," Hacking Team said in a statement.

Milan prosecutors subsequently placed six former Hacking Team employees and freelancers under investigation on charges of abusive computer system access and revealing industrial secrets after they were reported by company founder David Vincenzetti.

