WASHINGTON – In a move to protect national security and civil liberties, the United States unveiled new sanctions on Monday against a commercial spyware company led by a former Israeli military officer. This company, Intellexa Consortium, developed a program called Predator, which facilitated unauthorized access to virtually any data stored on a smartphone.

According to U.S. officials and private researchers, Intellexa’s products have been used for extensive surveillance activities globally, enabling malicious actors to track and extract sensitive information from individuals such as dissidents, journalists, political candidates, and opposition figures.

The sanctions specifically target five individuals and one organization associated with Intellexa, which operates through a network of companies based in Greece with subsidiaries in North Macedonia, Hungary, Ireland, and the British Virgin Islands. The Predator suite of spyware tools created by Intellexa allowed intruders to infiltrate a target’s device without any user action required, granting access to the camera, microphone, and all stored data on the compromised phone.

Bradley T. Smith, the acting undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, emphasized that the U.S. will not tolerate the proliferation of disruptive technologies that jeopardize national security and undermine citizens’ privacy and civil liberties.

The penalties also extend to several senior officials of Intellexa and its subsidiaries, including the Aliada Group, which facilitated financial transactions amounting to tens of millions of dollars for Intellexa. This enforcement action builds on previous sanctions imposed earlier this year by the Biden administration and the Commerce Department’s blacklist of Intellexa and its subsidiaries from accessing U.S. technology.

Created in 2019 by Tal Dilian, a former Israeli military officer, Intellexa and its products have sparked international condemnation for misuse and abuse. Amnesty International’s Security Lab published a report linking Predator to targeting high-profile individuals like the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen, and U.S. politicians such as Rep. Michael McCaul and Sen. John Hoeven.

Europe, too, has faced spyware incidents involving Predator, notably in Greece, where the software’s use led to the resignation of top government officials in 2022.

This latest round of sanctions underscores the commitment of the United States to combatting the misuse of spyware and safeguarding democratic values and individual freedoms.