U.S. bans maker of spyware that targeted a senator's phone

Source: NBC News

March 5, 2024, 11:01 AM EST


The Treasury Department on Tuesday banned a notorious creator of software that can hack smartphones and turn them into surveillance devices from doing business in the United States. The sanctions constitute the most aggressive action taken by the U.S. government against a spyware company. The company, Intellexa, develops a software called Predator, which can take over a person’s phone and turn it into a surveillance device.

Predator and other major spyware programs boast capabilities such as secretly turning on the user’s microphone and camera, downloading their files without their knowledge and tracking their location. Under the sanctions, Americans and people who do business with the U.S. are forbidden from transacting with Intellexa, its founder and architect Tal Dilian, employee Sara Hamou and four companies affiliated with Intellexa.

In a press call previewing the sanctions, a White House official, who requested to not be identified, said the decision to sanction Intellexa “goes beyond actions we’ve taken.” “This is the first time that the U.S. government has leveraged any sanctions authority against commercial spyware vendors for enabling misuse of their tools,” he said.

An Amnesty International investigation found that Predator has been used to target journalists, human rights workers and some high-level political figures, including European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Taiwan’s outgoing president, Tsai Ing-Wen. The report found that Predator was also deployed against at least two sitting members of Congress, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/us-bans-maker-spyware-targeted-senators-phone-rcna141855