"It's the latest indicator that the Trump administration is a-okay with commercial spyware used by authoritarian countries to spy on dissidents, journalists, and political opponents, following a move in September that saw Team MAGA lift restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) purchasing software from commercial spyware maker Paragon Solutions. Predator has all the usual features of a commercial spyware product."
"It allows users to perform espionage-related activities on infected devices, including device tracking, surveillance, data theft, and the like. Predator has remained available through the Intellexa spyware consortium despite US sanctions imposed in 2024 on Intellexa-linked entities and executives. In its first round of sanctions in March 2024, the Biden-era Treasury Department described Intellexa as a "significant threat to ... national security.""
"Sara Hamou, who was sanctioned in March 2024 for providing managerial services to Intellexa-linked firms, has now been removed from the Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals list. The same applies to Andrea Gambazzi, the beneficial owner of Thalestris Limited, which held Predator distribution rights, and Merom Harpaz, described by US officials as a senior Intellexa executive. Both were sanctioned in September 2024."
The Trump administration removed US business restrictions on three individuals previously sanctioned for ties to Intellexa and its Predator spyware, delisting Sara Hamou, Andrea Gambazzi, and Merom Harpaz from sanctions lists. Predator enables device tracking, surveillance, data theft, and other espionage activities on infected devices. Predator remained available through the Intellexa consortium despite 2024 US sanctions that labeled Intellexa a significant national security threat. The Treasury Department said the delistings resulted from petitions for reconsideration and that each individual demonstrated measures to separate from Intellexa. ICE also lifted a stop-work order and earlier restrictions on purchasing commercial spyware were relaxed.
Read at Theregister
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]