US sanctions spyware company, executives for targeting Americans

Treasury Department says former Israeli military officer Tal Jonathan Dilian, who founded Intellexa in 2019, sanctioned

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Treasury Department said Tuesday that it imposed sanctions against two people and a Greece-based commercial spyware company headed by a former Israeli military officer for targeting American officials.

"Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated two individuals and five entities associated with the Intellexa Consortium for their role in developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology used to target Americans, including U.S. government officials, journalists, and policy experts," the agency said in a statement.

The two individuals include former Israeli military officer Tal Jonathan Dilian, who founded Intellexa in 2019.

Dilian's partner, Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou, a corporate off-shoring specialist who has provided managerial services to Intellexa, was also sanctioned.

Other entities associated with Intellexa, including North Macedonia-based Cytrox AD, Hungary-based Cytrox Holdings Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (Cytrox Holdings ZRT), Ireland-based Thalestris Limited, were sanctioned for developing and distributing a package of tools known as “Predator spyware, which can infiltrate a range of electronic devices through zero-click attacks that require no user interaction for the spyware to infect the device."

"Today’s actions represent a tangible step forward in discouraging the misuse of commercial surveillance tools, which increasingly present a security risk to the United States and our citizens," Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson was quoted in the statement.

Separately, State Department's spokesman Matthew Miller said the US is sanctioning two individuals and five entities for developing, operating or distributing commercial spyware technology misused to target Americans, including officials, journalists and policy experts.

"We continue to promote guardrails that protect democratic values," Miller wrote on X.

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