The U.S State Department said it would implement a new tougher policy against the use of malicious spyware by imposing visa restrictions on individuals involved in the misuse of such commercial software, a decision that may affect some Greek citizens following the alleged use by individuals of the notorious “Predator” spyware in the country.
Accusations of eavesdropping on mobile phone communications using the specific spyware has generated scrutiny of Greek intelligence services by European Union institutions and widespread media coverage.
“The United States remains concerned with the growing misuse of commercial spyware around the world to facilitate repression, restrict the free flow of information, and enable human rights abuses,” a statement issued by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken read on the official State Department website.
Blinken said the misuse of such software threatens privacy and freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association, adding that targeting individuals around the world have been linked to “arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in the most egregious of cases.”
In Greece’s cases, charges of spying on mobile phone conversations and communication is at center-stage, not violent acts.
The center-right Greek government’s image was blemished when it was reported that the intelligence service was using the notorious spyware software, along with legal phone taps authorized by a relevant prosecutor. It was highlighted in reports that the “Predator” spyware had been allegedly used domestically, including against an American citizen.
Following the slew of damning media coverage, the European Parliament plenary is expected to approve a highly critical resolution on the rule of law in Greece today. According to reports, it will highlight interceptions with the illegal Predator software, surveillance, and lawsuits against journalists by Grigoris Dimitriadis – the nephew of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who, as the leader’s chief of staff, had been in charge of the country’s secret service – and “government interventions in the investigation” of the case.
Athens has been portrayed in the press as a training hub for foreign users of the software worldwide, while the exports of Predator through Athens, particularly to countries with problematic regimes are also highlighted.
According to documents revealed by the press, the exports were allegedly made upon requests from the company Intellexa, based in Elliniko, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the export license of dual-use products and were allegedly given the “green light” by the General Secretariat for International Economic Relations and Extroversion.
The stricter visa entry policy by the U.S. was hailed as the toughest and most decisive action taken internationally to date by researchers at the Citizen Lab in Toronto, the international center investigating illegal software, which has certified the use of Predator against Greek targets.
