For 2.5 months the mobile phone of the Greek journalist Thanasis Koukakis was monitored by a very expensive malicious software named Predator of the company Cytrox, which is used by secret services and law enforcement authorities. This case is associated with the unconstitutional amendment passed by the Mitsotakis government that changed the legislation regarding the secrecy of communications.
Until yesterday, we knew that Greece is sinking in the World Press Freedom Index (2021) and is now below Poland and Mongolia (70th out of a total of 180 countries), according to the annual report of Reporters Without Borders.
In a country where:
- the cold-blooded murder of journalist George Karaivaz remains unsolved for a year,
- pluralism in information, especially during the Mitsotakis administration, remains lost in the funds that the government paid to its media clients
- the attempts to silence the journalists -through the SLAPP revenge lawsuits- are multiplying,
It now appears - with evidence - that even the mobile phones of Greek journalists - possibly other citizens as well - are being monitored through installed malware.
As revealed yesterday in a detailed report by Inside Story (E. Triantafyllou, T. Telloglou), for at least ten weeks, strangers could hear and see everything on the mobile phone of journalist Thanasis Koukakis, in which the Predator monitoring software was installed. Predator is made by Cytrox, a company in which Tal Dillian, a former commander of Unit 81, a select technology unit under the auspices of the Israeli army, has substantial interests.
A few months ago, investigations by the prestigious CitizenLab Institute and Facebook Meta about the previously unknown espionage software (Predator) left open the possibility that the Greek government was among its clients. We wrote then ("After Palantir came Cytrox!", 9.1.2022, "Ef.Syn.") that the Greek government must answer for its relationship with the Predator software, the Cytrox company, and the Greek interests Intellexa company that sells the product in the Greek market. It had already become known that 42 fake websites, referring to major Greek media, including "Ef.Syn.", were set up exclusively to mislead citizens in Greece and that thousands of mobile phone users may already be monitored.
This software can do almost anything: capture screenshots, record user entries, turn on the device's microphone and camera, record text messages sent or received (even through apps like WhatsApp or Telegram), as well as simple phone calls.
The first suspicions
The surveillance case of Greek journalist Thanasis Koukakis, (photo below) has a rich past. Two years ago, he had reasonable suspicions that he may have been the target of electronic surveillance by strangers, and for this reason, on August 12, 2020, he had addressed the Communications Confidentiality Authority (ADAE), making a complaint.
In March 2021, with an unconstitutional amendment, the Mitsotakis government changed the rules regarding the obviation of the secrecy of communications: It deprived the ADAE of its ability to inform the Greek citizens of the obviation of the secrecy of their communications by the Greek Intelligence Service (EYP) if the reason for the monitoring concerned national security. Mitsotakis changed a law that was in force for 27 years. Until then, the law provided that the ADAE could notify the affected person of the removal of his confidentiality after 6 months, whether it was done to identify serious crimes or for reasons of national security. Four months after the change of the law and one year after the initial complaint, the independent authority responded to the first complaint of Koukakis that, "no event was found that constitutes a violation of the current legislation".
After the publication of the surveys by Citizen Lab and Meta last December, Th. Koukakis was alarmed again seeing that among the Greek websites that have been targeted are the media with which he collaborated. As it turned out, the "infection" of his mobile phone was done with a simple SMS that he received at noon on July 12, 2021, from a Greek mobile phone, unknown to him until today, which is now inactive. "Thanasis, you know about this subject", wrote the message that was accompanied by a link to a Greek blog. One-click on his part was enough to install the software. Between July 12 and September 24, 2021, his phone was hacked.
The journalist was informed about the violation of his mobile phone on March 28, 2022, when, after a relevant request, he received an official response from the interdisciplinary laboratory for digital threats detection of the Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto, to which he had sent everything necessary through Metadata from his cell phone. The colleague made a new complaint to the ADAE, on April 6, asking the Authority to thoroughly investigate the case.
The government spokesman yesterday rushed to talk about monitoring by individuals, without giving further details, and although it is a fact that this expensive software is used internationally, mainly by government agencies. According to information from "Ef.Syn.", there was neither yesterday nor the previous days any communication of ADAE with any representative of the government on the issue. In addition, the Authority, under its operating regulations, must, first of all, inform the person directly concerned. "The government took the position with certainty that my monitoring was done by a private individual. I am waiting for the conclusion of ADAE that will confirm this claim ", said yesterday Th. Koukakis, who today will inform the Journalists' Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers ESIEA.
The reports
During the period under surveillance, the journalist dealt with issues such as the judicial development of the Piraeus Bank-Logothetis scandal, cases regarding the release of assets of persons accused of money laundering, contracts related to defense expenditures, investments in hotels, and foreigners who acquired real estate property in Greece and were facilitated by the development law, expenditures of the Ministries of Immigration, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and the Ministries of Pro.Po. and Justice, that were classified as secret.
In yesterday's post, the International Institute of Journalism (IPI) states that it is particularly concerned about the case and that it will ask for an explanation from the Greek government. The overarching issue remains, however, and that is the change of the legislative framework with retroactive effect, in order to reveal which citizens and journalists have been monitored for reasons of "national security".
Economou spoke about private-to-private monitoring
"Has the Greek State procured the" predator "monitoring software of the company Intellexa? Yes or No;" the opposition party SYRIZA asked ● "Since last July we had warned you of corresponding dangers", pointed out MERA25
It was not the first time a government spokesman had been asked to comment on the revelations of a media watchdog. The first was a few months ago when "Ef.Syn." had revealed that the EYP is monitoring Solomon journalist, Stavros Malihoudis, and other citizens involved in refugee and human rights issues. That revelation was accompanied by unshakable evidence and disclosed the marks of EYP itself.
At that time, Mr. Economou had thrown the ball on the podium without denying our revelations. Yesterday he chose a different tactic and hastened to prejudge the result of the investigation, arguing that it is individual-to-individual monitoring. "It is impossible in a country like Greece, in a state of law, that any individual can monitor another individual," he said, among other things, with the opposition answering back with a relevant announcement:
"Before the Communications Confidentiality Authority makes any conclusions, the government spokesman, Mr. Economou, discounted the result of the investigation, attributing the monitoring to an individual. "Either he knows something, something that no one knows yet, or he is just lying to obscure the truth." And the announcement of the official opposition closed with a question: "Has the Greek State procured the" predator "monitoring software of the company Intellexa? Yes or No;".
Another opposition party of the Left, MERA25 made a similar intervention, noting, among other things, that "since last July we had warned of corresponding risks, even submitting a relevant amendment that prohibited the supply, marketing, and installation of such software. "The fact that the government refused to accept it makes it effectively co-responsible for this illegal surveillance."
Translated and curated by Ioannis Damellos for The Greek Courier
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