US sanctions on spyware maker includes Irish firm
Target An Who Intellexa Israeli In Founded Agency The Veteran Dilian, 2019 Consortium Tal Intelligence Sanctions
The US has imposed sanctions on the makers of “Predator” spyware, a sophisticated surveillance technology that Biden administration officials say has been used to target US officials and enable human rights abuses.
It marks the first time the US has imposed sanctions on individuals and companies associated with misuse of spyware, which can take over a phone or other electronic device, including accessing microphone recordings and other data, without a victim clicking any link.
The sanctions target Tal Dilian, an Israeli intelligence agency veteran who in 2019 founded Intellexa Consortium, a surveillance outfit that has supplied spyware to authoritarian regimes, according to the US Treasury Department.
Five entities associated with the consortium, registered in Greece, Ireland, North Macedonia, and Hungary, have also been designated for sanctions, according to the US Treasury.
The US previously imposed export controls on four of the companies last year.
Intellexa Limited is a Dublin-based company within the Intellexa Consortium and acts as a technology reseller.
It holds assets on behalf of the consortium, the US Treasury said.
The sanctions also target Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, described in US Treasury documents as a corporate off-shoring specialist who has provided managerial services to the Intellexa Consortium, including renting office space in Greece.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to detail the actions, described the sanctions as a groundbreaking move and said the consortium’s activities pose a counterintelligence threat to the US government and have enabled human rights abuses around the world.
The sanctions freeze US assets owned by targeted entities and block financial transactions with them, putting financial institutions that break the sanctions at risk of sanctions or law enforcement.
In 2021, the US Department of Commerce imposed export controls on NSO Group and Candiru, saying the two Israeli makers of spyware had developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used their tools to maliciously target government officials and journalists, among others.
In 2023, the department added four companies associated with Intellexa to the same export blacklist, which effectively bans usage of the products in the US or supplying parts to them.
- Bloomberg