WASHINGTON: US authorities imposed sanctions on Intellexa Consortium-affiliated parties on Tuesday, alleging their involvement in the creation and dissemination of commercial spyware that is used to target journalists, public officials, and other individuals.
The United States and its citizens are “increasingly at risk of security breaches,” according to Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson, who oversees financial intelligence and counterterrorism.
Specifically, the Intellexa Consortium was established in 2019 and functioned as a “marketing label” for businesses that sold espionage and surveillance software for a fee.
The Treasury Department claimed that the tools, which come in a suite and go by the moniker “Predator” spyware, can infect machines automatically without the need for user input.
The Treasury stated, “Foreign actors have deployed the Predator spyware in an attempt to surveil US government officials, journalists, and policy experts covertly.”
Tal Jonathan Dilian, the founder of Intellexa Consortium, and Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, who has given the organization managerial services, were two of the people targeted on Tuesday.
Sanctions were also imposed on five firms for their roles in developing the Predator spyware and exporting Intellexa’s monitoring capabilities to autocratic governments.
Washington placed Intellexa units formed in Greece and Ireland on a blacklist in July of last year.
They were included to the Entities List maintained by the Commerce Department, which severely limits American business dealings with them.
