Intellexa founder hints Greek government behind phone hacks

Tal Dilian, founder of spyware maker Intellexa, said he plans to appeal a Greek court conviction on charges that he and three other executives illegally obtained personal data as part of a mass wiretapping campaign. The spying scandal involved the hacking of dozens of phones belonging to senior Greek government ministers, opposition leaders, military officials and journalists using Intellexa's Predator spyware. The tool can break into iPhones and Android devices to steal call logs, text messages, emails and location data, typically Dilian was convicted in February and sentenced to eight years in prison. In a statement first reported He believes a conviction without evidence is not justice and could be part of a cover-up and even a crime. Dilian told Reuters he is willing to share evidence with national and international regulators. Dilian also said surveillance technologies like Predator are typically sold only to governments, which are responsible for using them lawfully. Several senior officials in the Greek government, including the head of Greece's national intelligence agency and a senior aide to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, resigned after revelations that journalists' phones had been hacked. No government officials have been convicted in connection with the surveillance. The U.S. government imposed sanctions against Dilian in 2024 after Predator was found to have been used against phones belonging to U.S. officials and journalists.