The greek governmentaccording to the New York Times, has decided to ban the sale of spyware in Greece after a espionage scandal to prominent figures in the world of politics and journalism that has splashed the authorities for the use of espionage software through mobile phones. This decision comes after the government has denied for several weeks that they have been spying on them.
The government also wants the Greeks to be aware that this measure does not imply that they are admitting any type of guilt, or that they admit that they did something wrong. In any case, it is a somewhat complex scandal, which began to gain notoriety last July, when it was discovered that the Greek politician and MEP, Nikos Androulakis, had been the target of a spyware for mobile known as predator.
This spyware, marketed by the North Macedonia-based company Cytrox, has the ability to secretly infiltrate and steal data from them. As expected, Androulakis was not pleased to learn that he had been spied on, and he called for an investigation into what had happened. Then suspicions began that the culprits were in the government of Greece.
Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, denied any criminal activity, suggesting that an investigation be required. This investigation was carried out, and led to the confirmation that the Greek intelligence service had indeed monitored Androulakis. But the government alleges that Predator was not involved in the surveillance. As for Mitsotakis, he claimed that he knew nothing about this surveillance, calling it a legal but unethical operation.
But the scandal did not end there. Since then, several politicians and journalists have discovered traces of Predator on their mobiles, which has led to growing discontent. The evidence presented has prompted an investigation by the Greek Parliament, as well as several resignations of high-level officials from the Mitsotakis government. Among them, the person in charge of intelligence of him. Regardless, the government continues to deny involvement in any internal surveillance operation implicating Predator.
This very week, the scandal intensified after a country’s media outlet published a list with 33 politicians, journalists and businessmen who claim to have been targets of spyware. Everyone on it participated in a forensic investigation that found traces of the malware on their phones. Among them there is a minister from another country, a finance minister, two former civil protection ministers, the labor minister, the development minister and the tourism minister. There are also several of her relatives spied on. The reason why they have been spied on, nor the data that the vigilantes have obtained from each one, is not clear.
Greece is not the only country currently facing criticism for using spyware. In Europe there have been several similar scandals. In several EU countries, including France, Poland, Spain and Hungary 😉 apart from the UK (outside the EU) more or less large surveillance scandals have arisen with similar tools that can be purchased legally. Greece, despite having announced its ban, has yet to draft the bill to ban spyware, to then vote for approval in Parliament.
