Greek probe clears state intelligence of malware use in wiretap scandal

Greece’s Supreme Court says a two-year probe had found no proof that the country’s intelligence service used a notorious malware software at the heart of a wiretap scandal.

“State intelligence… was not involved with the Predator spyware or any similar software,” Supreme Court prosecutor Georgia Adeilini says in a statement.

The court prosecutor’s office had conducted an “in-depth investigation of every facet of the case,” Adeilini says.

A number of ministers and other officials were revealed in 2022 to have been under surveillance by state intelligence — which is supervised by the prime minister’s office.

At least 11 people including the prosecutor of the state intelligence agency EYP and the head of Greek police were also found to have been targeted with the Predator malware, a media investigation including French online newspaper Mediapart, German magazine Der Spiegel and Greek site Reporters United said in November.

Though the purpose of the state wiretaps was classified and was never disclosed, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis later told parliament the monitoring was legal.

Two Israeli-controlled companies, Intellexa and Cytrox, are said to be behind behind the Predator malware.

Intellexa was established by former Israeli Defense Force intelligence officer Tal Dilian, who was previously associated with NSO Group, creator of the notorious spyware Pegasus.

Forbes reported that Dilian took over Cytrox in 2019 to make Intellexa a “one-stop-shop” for hacking and electronic surveillance services and products.