Predatorgate snoopfest victims launch €8M sueball at spyware maker

Eight victims of Greece's spyware scandal, later dubbed Predatorgate," have sued the Athens-based company behind the program used to surveil them. According to the Predator victims' lawyer, Zacharias Kesses, each of the plaintiffs is asking for 1 million in moral damages after having their devices hacked between 2020 and 2021. Among those seeking damages is journalist Thanasis Koukakis, who was one of the most high-profile victims at the time. Others include lawyers, intelligence officials, law enforcement workers, and more. Kesses said that the lawsuit was directed at Intellexa SA and 13 individuals associated with it, including founder Tal Dilian. The lawsuits detail the structure, operation and division of roles of the network of companies and individuals associated with the development, distribution and use of Predator," Kesses told Greek newspaper Kathimerini. This process constitutes the next institutional step towards full accountability of all those involved and redress for victims, both at national and European levels." Intellexa is a distinct Athens-based corporate entity, but also the name of a consortium of other companies that sit around it as holding companies and vendors, all registered in different jurisdictions. Put simply, it developed Predator spyware, one of the most capable offerings of its kind. Athens-based Intellexa SA, Irish companies Intellexa Limited and Thalestris Limited, North Macedonia-based Cytrox AD, and Hungary-based Cytrox Holdings were all added to the US Treasury's sanctions list in 2024 for their roles in supporting Predator spyware. Key figures such as consortium founder Dilian and his ex-wife Sara Hamou, a corporate offshoring specialist who worked for the consortium, joined the organizations on the list at the same time. Both Dilian and Hamou, as well as Greeks Felix Bitzios and Yiannis Lavranos, a former Intellexa boss and owner of Krikel, a Predator vendor, respectively, were found guilty earlier this year of violating telephone communications confidentiality and illegally accessing personal data. An Athens misdemeanors court sentenced each to 126 years and eight months in prison, pending appeals, although domestic law would cap these at eight years. Greek government officials have continuously waved away the numerous accusations that it, or its intelligence services, were behind the attacks on Greeks in 2020-2021. A resulting probe into Predatorgate revealed that at least 87 high-profile Greeks were targeted by Predator spyware via hundreds of SMS messages containing malicious links that exploited Chrome and Android zero-day vulnerabilities. Civil liberties groups, such as Amnesty International, continue to question whether the state was in any way involved in the procurement of Predator for use in these attacks, despite its repeated denials. A 2024 Supreme Court prosecutor's probe found no evidence that the Greek government or its intelligence services were involved in the scandal, which first came to light in 2022. The Greek spyware scandal came at a similar time as others like it involving other EU member states, including Spain, Hungary, and Poland. Frustrated at the lack of action following these separate cases, campaigners co-signed an open letter this week calling on the EU to properly investigate and attribute each of the illegal spyware attacks that have occurred across member states. (R)