News|CrimeGreek court finds 4 guilty in major 2022 spyware scandalTwo Greeks and two Israelis found guilty of ‘breaching the confidentiality of telephone communications’ in major case that shook Greece.
A Greek court has sentenced four individuals, including two from Israel, to prison in connection with a wiretapping scandal involving the illegal use of Predator spyware. The software was used to target numerous politicians, journalists, business…
A Greek court has sentenced four individuals, including two from Israel, to prison in connection with a wiretapping scandal involving the illegal use of Predator spyware. The software was used to target numerous politicians, journalists, business leaders, and military officials.
On Wednesday, the Second Single-Member Misdemeanour Court of Athens found the defendants guilty of "breaching the confidentiality of telephone communications." They were also convicted of "tampering with a personal-data filing system on a repeated basis" and "illegal access to an information system or data."
The defendants include Tal Dilian, a former Israeli soldier and founder of Intellexa, a company that marketed Predator in Greece. His business partner and two former Greek executives of the company were also on trial. The court issued a combined sentence of 126 years and eight months, with eight years to be served. The defendants remain free pending an appeal.
A Greek court has sentenced four individuals, including two from Israel, to prison in connection with a wiretapping scandal involving the illegal use of Predator spyware.
The scandal came to light in early 2022 when investigative journalist Thanasis Koukakis discovered his phone had been wiretapped and infected with Predator. The spyware allows infiltration of mobile phones, enabling access to messages and photos and remote activation of microphones and cameras.
The independent telecommunications privacy authority ADAE confirmed that Predator was used against more than 90 individuals. Some targets of the National Intelligence Service (EYP) during that period were also infected with Predator, as per an expert report.
Greece’s government has acknowledged the lawful monitoring of communications by Socialist party leader Nikos Androulakis but denied any misconduct. The scandal led to judicial investigations and the resignation of senior officials in Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's administration, including a senior aide and the head of EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon.
Based on reporting by Al Jazeera.
