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main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"24.838805970149\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"29.806451612903\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/government\/\"> <span>Government<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The Biden administration sanctions individuals and entities behind the commercial surveillance tool implicated in human rights abuses. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/u-s-sanctions-maker-of-predator-spyware.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" 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https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/u-s-sanctions-maker-of-predator-spyware-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/u-s-sanctions-maker-of-predator-spyware-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> A 12-year-old boy looks at an iPhone screen on December 19, 2023 in Bath, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy\/Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"43.583634175692\"><body readability=\"87.759403516581\"><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned the makers of the notorious Predator spyware, a move that marks an escalation in the Biden administration\u2019s attempts to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware. <\/p>\n<p>The entities <a href=\"https:\/\/ofac.treasury.gov\/recent-actions\/20240305\">sanctioned<\/a> by the U.S. government include two executives and five corporate entities in what is known as the Intellexa Consortium \u2014 a business vehicle responsible for developing and marketing the Predator spyware.<\/p>\n<p>Brian E. Nelson, the Treasury Department\u2019s top sanctions official, said in a statement that the sanctions aim to discourage the misuse of commercial surveillance tools that \u201cincreasingly present a security risk to the United States and our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Researchers have identified Predator being used in a range of human rights abuses, including the targeting of dissidents, journalists and political officials, but the tool is only one of a growing number in a rapidly expanding spyware industry selling highly intrusive surveillance capabilities. According to the Treasury Department, Predator has been implicated in the targeting of American government officials, journalists and policy experts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Industry officials argue their tools are essential to combat criminal and terrorist groups relying on encrypted communications tools, but the failure to limit their use to such contexts has led officials in Washington to seek ways to force the industry to adopt better guardrails. <\/p>\n<p>A senior administration official speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity ahead of the sanctions\u2019 announcement said companies in the spyware industry face two paths, one in which they \u201cimplement safeguards to ensure responsible use of their tools\u201d and another in which \u201cthere are consequences for those vendors that flout safeguards and seek to profit on continued misuse of their tools.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the senior administration official, the move against Intellexa represents an escalation of U.S. efforts to combat spyware misuse. The Biden administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/the-united-states-adds-foreign-companies-to-entity-list-for-malicious-cyber-activities\/\">has previously added spyware companies<\/a>, including Israel\u2019s notorious NSO Group, to the Commerce Department\u2019s Entity List, which bans U.S. firms from certain transactions with listed firms. But Tuesday\u2019s sanctions marks the first time the Treasury Department has levied financial sanctions against firms and individuals in the spyware industry, the official said. <\/p>\n<p>The sanctions target <a href=\"https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/israel-news\/tech-news\/2020-12-31\/ty-article-magazine\/.highlight\/a-shady-israeli-intel-genius-his-cyber-spy-van-and-million-dollar-deals\/0000017f-f21e-d497-a1ff-f29ed7c30000\">Tal Jonathan Dilian<\/a>, a retired Israeli military officer who is the founder of the Intellexa Consortium, and Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, whom the Treasury Department describes as a \u201ca corporate off-shoring specialist who has provided managerial services to the Intellexa Consortium.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Efforts to reach Dilian and Hamou for comment on Tuesday were unsuccessful. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The five corporate entities sanctioned Tuesday include firms operating in Greece, Hungary, Ireland and North Macedonia under the names Intellexa, Cytrox and Thalestris Limited. The official noted that these firms\u2019 corporate registrations in Europe highlight the role played by firms on the continent in enabling human rights abuses. Cytrox and Intellexa <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/commerce-department-blacklists-spyware-companies\/\">were added<\/a> to the Commerce Department\u2019s Entity List last year. <\/p>\n<p>Human rights researchers and technology firms have called on officials in Europe to take a stronger line against European commercial spyware firms implicated in human rights abuses. <\/p>\n<p>John Scott-Railton, a researcher at the University of Toronto\u2019s Citizen Lab who has written extensively about the spyware industry, applauded the move, describing the sanctions as a \u201cthunder clap\u201d that will have a \u201crolling and chilling effect throughout the industry.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>According to Scott-Railton, Tuesday\u2019s sanctions also illustrate the divide between how Europe and the United States have sought to curb abuses in the spyware industry. European corporate entities have been deeply implicated in abuses linked to Predator, and despite having sanctions power, European officials have declined to move against these firms. \u201cEurope\u2019s inaction is deeply puzzling,\u201d Scott-Railton said. <\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s sanctions come on the heels of a report last week that <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/predator-spyware-endures-after-exposure\/\">detailed the technical infrastructure used by Predator<\/a>. After a pair of reports revealed how Intellexa had rebuilt its technical infrastructure after an earlier exposure last year, the firm <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/predator-spyware-infrastructure-taken-down\/\">dismantled its infrastructure<\/a> over the weekend. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>AJ Vicens contributed reporting to this article. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"4.0426829268293\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"14\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/u-s-sanctions-maker-of-predator-spyware-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Elias Groll\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Elias Groll<\/h4>\n<p> Elias Groll is a senior editor at CyberScoop. He has previously worked as a reporter and editor at Foreign Policy, covering technology and national security, and at the Brookings Institution, where he was the managing editor of TechStream and worked as part of the AI and Emerging Technology Initiative. He is a graduate of Harvard University, where he was the managing editor of The Harvard Crimson. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div 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{"id":2662,"date":"2024-03-05T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=79626"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:30:00","slug":"u-s-sanctions-maker-of-predator-spyware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/05\/u-s-sanctions-maker-of-predator-spyware\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. sanctions maker of Predator spyware\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"