The US government on Tuesday announced sanctions against the founder of notorious spyware company Intellexa and one of his business partners.
This is the first time the US government has targeted specific individuals, other than companies, with sanctions related to the misuse of commercial spyware. And it marks an escalation in efforts by the White House and the US government to clamp down on the spyware industry.
“Today’s actions represent a tangible step forward in discouraging the misuse of commercial surveillance tools, which increasingly pose a security risk to the United States and our citizens,” Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury, was quoted as saying. USA on Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Matters. saying inside a press release. “The United States remains focused on creating clear guardrails for the responsible development and use of these technologies while ensuring that the human rights and civil liberties of individuals around the world are protected.”
The US Treasury Department sanctioned Tal Dilian, founder of Intellexa and a veteran of the spyware industry, and Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, who is not as well known as Dilian.
Hamou, according to the Ministry of Finance, has a leading role at Intellexa, is an off-shoring specialist and provided the company with administrative services, such as renting office space in Greece.
The US government alleges that Hamou, as well as Dilian and his companies, had a role in developing spyware that was used to target Americans, including US government officials, journalists and policy experts. The government did not provide evidence to support the allegation that Intellexa spyware was used against US government officials;
The sanctions also target the Intellexa Consortium, which includes Intellexa SA, a Greece-based spyware developer that has exported its tools to authoritarian regimes. Ireland-based Intellexa Limited, which acts as a reseller for the consortium; Cytrox AD, a North Macedonia-based company in the consortium. Hungary-based Cytrox Holdings ZRT, which developed the Predator spyware; and Ireland-based Thalestris Limited.
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Sanctions are an important tool in the US government bureaucracy’s arsenal against cybercriminals, ransomware actors, and now spyware makers. Sanctions are issued by the US Treasury Department to make it illegal for US individuals or businesses to do business with a sanctioned entity, such as in this case paying for access to spyware. By imposing sanctions against Dilian and his associates by name, the US government aims to make it much more difficult for individuals to benefit from commercial surveillance.
In that case, the sanctions mean U.S. companies and individuals are prohibited from doing business with Intellexa and Cytrox, as well as Dilian and Hamou, which includes financial transactions as well as material or technological support, according to a government official. of the US, who spoke on a telephone call with the media, in which reporters agreed not to name government officials.
Dillian and Hamou could not be reached for comment.
These sanctions will specifically affect Dilian and Hamou, but will also send a message to others involved in the spyware industry.
“The impact and scale on these two people is going to change their lives. Their lives — as they know it — are over,” said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab who has researched government spyware for more than a decade.
“If I’m a mercenary spyware company, I should be really worried,” Scott-Railton added. “The reckless companies at the center of this problem will feel the U.S. government’s considerable displeasure.”
Today’s sanctions are the latest in a series of enforcement actions taken by the Biden administration against commercial spyware makers in recent years.
In 2021, the Commerce Department imposed export controls on the NSO Group, one of the best-known spyware makers, as well as Candiru, another Israel-based spyware maker. Then, in 2023, the same controls were imposed against Cytrox and Intellexa.
And earlier this year, announced the US government that the State Department could impose visa restrictions on individuals believed to have engaged in or facilitated commercial spyware abuse around the world.
