U.S. blacklists Israeli owned spyware firms

ISTANBUL (AA) – The U.S. has blacklisted two European-based spyware companies, Intellexa and Cytrox, for posing “threats to privacy and security.”

The companies are owned by various Israeli nationals, including former military intelligence officer Tal Dillia.

The companies are accused of dealing in cyber exploits used to gain access to information systems. The U.S. claims the companies’ products have been used to target journalists, activists and government officials.

The blacklisting means that U.S. companies are prohibited from exporting goods or services to Intellexa and Cytrox without a license.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed in a statement that “four foreign commercial spyware entities (are being added) to the Entity List for engaging in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.”

“The proliferation of commercial spyware poses distinct and growing counterintelligence and security risks to the United States, including to the safety and security of US government personnel and their families,” the statement added. 

“The misuse of these tools globally has also facilitated repression and enabled human rights abuses, including to intimidate political opponents and curb dissent, limit freedom of expression, and monitor and target activists and journalists.”

The move is part of a broader U.S. effort to crack down on the sale and use of spyware.

The companies are part of the so-called “Star Alliance of spyware,” which was formed to compete with Israel’s NSO Group.

The products of these companies have been used to track journalists and activists in Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Madagascar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Serbia.

The Greek government has been accused of using the companies’ products to spy on opposition politicians and journalists.

The blacklisting sends a clear message to companies that sell or use spyware that their activities will not be tolerated. 

In 2021, the U.S. added two companies from Israel NSO Group and Candiru to its trade blacklist because they sold spyware to foreign spyware who used it to target government officials and journalists.

In May, the European Parliament’s PEGA Committee, which is investigating the use of spyware in its member countries, said that Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is responsible for the surveillance scandal that rocked the country’s political scene last summer.

On Aug. 8, 2022, Mitsotakis acknowledged that opposition politician Nikos Androulakis was wiretapped by Greece’s intelligence agency but denied knowledge of the operation.

The scandal first emerged on Aug. 4, when Panagiotis Kontoleon, then-head of the EYP intel agency, told a parliamentary committee that the agency had been spying on financial journalist Thanasis Koukakis.

On Aug. 5, Kontoleon, along with the general secretary of the prime minister’s office, Grigoris Dimitriadis, resigned.