The latest crisis that rocked the Greek government shows that its surveillance problem is making the NSO group look outdated. The Wired he says:
Τα απόνερα του σκανδάλου φτάνουν στην καρδιά της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης. Τους τελευταίους 13 μήνες, αποκαλύφθηκε ότι spyware στόχευε ηγέτες της αντιπολίτευσης, δημοσιογράφους, δικηγόρους και ακτιβιστές στη Γαλλία, την Ισπανία, την Ουγγαρία, την Πολωνία, ακόμη και το προσωπικό της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής, της κυβέρνησης τύπου του υπουργικού συμβουλίου της ΕΕ, μεταξύ 2019 και 2021.
The EU is already investigating the use of spyware, but although a 38-person committee is working on a report to be released in early 2023, the number of new scandals is growing very quickly.
What stands out in the scandal in Greece is the company behind the spyware that was used.
Until then, the surveillance software in every EU scandal could be traced back to one company, the notorious NSO group. However, the spyware that tracked Koukakis' phone was made by Cytrox, a company founded in the small European nation of North Macedonia and acquired in 2017 by Tal Dilian – a businessman who became famous for driving a high-tech surveillance truck on the island of Cyprus but also for showing a Forbes reporter how he could hack the phones of passers-by.
In that interview, Dilian said he had acquired Cytrox and absorbed the company into intelligence firm Intellexa, believed to be based in Greece.
Cytrox's arrival in Europe's ongoing scandal shows the problem is bigger than NSO Group. The EU seems to have a thriving spyware industry of its own.
As the NSO Group fighting various checks at the moment, and entered the US blacklist, the company's lesser-known European rivals are scrambling to get their customers, according to researchers.
Over the past couple of months, Cytrox isn't the only company making headlines for hacking devices within the EU.
In June, Google He discovered that Italian spyware vendor RCS Lab was targeting smartphones in Italy and Kazakhstan.
Alberto Nobili, CEO of RCS, told WIRED that his company condemns misuse of its products, but declined to comment on whether the cases cited by Google were examples of misuse.
"RCS staff do not participate in activities conducted by our clients," it says.
Most recently, in July, spyware made by Austria's DSIRF was spotted by Microsoft hacking into law firms, banks and consultants in Austria, the UK and Panama.
