Spyware Maker Sentenced to Prison

The founder, Tal Dilian, and three other executives of Intellexa, a collective of spyware makers responsible for what was dubbed “Greek Watergate” have been sentenced to eight years in prison.

The four were found guilty in relation to the illegal wiretapping of telecommunications of various politicians, business leaders, and senior military officials all the way back in 2022 in what was dubbed the “Greek Watergate.”

Their Predator spyware was used to target 87 people.

The four were given 126 years each in prison and the court rejected any mitigating circumstances, but since their crimes were technically misdemeanors, they will only have to serve eight years, the maximum sentence for misdemeanors.

The case marks the first time a spyware maker has been sentenced to jail for the misuse of their technology.

Previously, WhatsApp had sued NSO Group for targeting WhatsApp users and successfully got them banned from doing so in the future, and a payout of $168 million in damages.

Apple had sued NSO Group as well for the targeting and surveillance of Apple customers, but it suddenly dropped the case before they could get damages.

This marks the first successful criminal case against executives in these malicious spyware tech companies that threaten the freedom and privacy of everyone in the world.

While civil cases certainly can make a dent, convicting the executives that profit from human rights abuses will be a much more effective means of stopping them. After all, they act just like the criminal hacker gangs that target civilians, so they should be dealt with the same as well.

It seems after the Pegasus spyware exploded over the news, western governments were gearing up to restrict use of these tools.

It’s fair to say the response has been underwhelming.

Even half a decade later, these companies still exist and they’re still thriving. While security of targeted operating systems like iOS and Android have improved, ultimately the spyware vendors have such a huge budget that they always seem to be able to bypass the security improvements eventually.

There really needs to be a complete ban of spyware outright and the makers of the spyware need to be criminally prosecuted for their crimes. Hopefully, this case is just the start.