The spyware scandal in Greece shows new NSO groups

The latest crisis that rocked the Greek government shows that its surveillance problem is making the NSO group look outdated. The Wired he says:

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The wake of the scandal reaches the heart of the European Union. Over the past 13 months, it has been revealed that spyware targeted opposition leaders, journalists, lawyers and activists in France, Spain, Hungary, Poland and even staff at the European Commission, the EU's cabinet-style government, between 2019 and 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 σε κάθε σκάνδαλο της ΕΕ μπορούσε να εντοπιστεί σε μία εταιρεία, την περιβόητη NSO. 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 the Italian supplier spy agency RCS Lab targeted 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 breaking into law firms, και συμβούλους στην Αυστρία, το and Panama.

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Written by giorgos

George still wonders what he's doing here ...

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