The Irish government plans to look into a group that has been accused of allowing its smartphone spyware to spread globally without any control.
It happened after Intellexa Limited and its parent company Thalestris were mentioned in a bad report by an important human rights organization.
The companies are located in a building in the north area of Dublin and are part of a larger Israeli group that sells Predator intelligence software.
Predator is a type of computer software that Amnesty International describes as being intrusive and used in bold hacking attempts against politicians and journalists.
Amnesty said that this technology can turn a smartphone into a spying device and has important implications for people’s rights.
The report wants the Irish government and other governments to look into and strengthen rules for spyware companies.
Amnesty said that the alliance was a group of companies that often changed and were complicated. They claimed to be based in the European Union and regulated, but they didn’t do anything to control who can use this spyware and for what reasons.
In July, US officials put Intellexa on a list of bad companies because they found out that their spying tools were dangerous to the United States’ safety and relationships with other countries.
The Intellexa office in Dublin, which is registered in the city, was established in 2019. This information is mentioned in a briefing paper by the European Parliament.
Amnesty’s report asked Irish and other European governments to “quickly cancel all permissions given to the Intellexa alliance for selling and sending goods to other countries”.
The report also urged governments to openly investigate the alliance’s actions and to enforce laws that make sure all companies treat people fairly.
A strong system is set up.
The Irish parliament’s justice committee is planning to have a meeting about this issue in January 2024.
A representative from the Department of Justice said that investigations are the responsibility of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE), and it would be inappropriate to comment on a possible hearing.
DETE stated that although the company is registered in Ireland, it has not asked for permission to export its products.
The department also stated that Ireland has a strong system for regulating and approving exports.
Both government departments refused to address specific claims or additional suggestions mentioned in the report. They said that because the investigation is sensitive, they cannot comment on it.
What does Predator mean.
Amnesty said that if a device has Predator software on it, the person using the device can freely use its microphone and camera and access all of its data without the device’s owner knowing.
This type of spyware is usually sold to governments for authorized spying activities, but there are worries that it has been misused, like in the Greek Watergate scandal.
A recent report by a human rights organization, in collaboration with European Investigative Collaborations, suggests that a particular software has been employed in “zero-click attacks. “
It was reported that the people targeted were President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-Wen, French MEP Pierre Karleskind, and some American politicians.
‘Disrupting human rights’
Amnesty says that some EU governments are not properly regulating companies linked to Intellexa.
Instead, they are taking money for themselves and not paying attention to the important human rights consequences involved, according to the report.
Intellexa alliance’s products have been discovered in more than 25 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. These products have been employed to weaken people’s human rights, limit freedom of the press, and hinder social movements worldwide.
Several companies associated with Intellexa were asked by the BBC to comment on the report’s findings, but none of them have replied.
Intellexa Ltd is a company connected to many other businesses that are owned or partially owned by a person named Tal Dilian from Israel.
On his website, Mr Dilian said that Intellexa has developed and combined technologies that give law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies the ability to gather and study data using very advanced methods.
Barry Andrews, a member of the European Parliament, criticized Intellexa in Ireland and requested the Oireachtas Justice Committee to investigate the company in August.
Mr Andrews, speaking to BBC News NI, said that he fully agrees with Amnesty International’s report and praises their work. He particularly agrees with the report’s statement that spyware goes against human rights.
The politician from Fianna Fáil said, “I think the Irish government is starting to take this issue seriously. ” I am excited to talk to the justice committee about this as soon as possible and I believe it should happen sooner rather than later.
Amnesty International tried to contact some groups, but they did not respond. However, the European Investigative Collaborations network did hear back from the main owners of the Nexa Group, which is a part of the Intellexa Alliance.
It was said that the alliance doesn’t exist anymore and its parts have followed the export rules very carefully.