Amnesty International recently uncovered a disturbing case of government surveillance targeting a prominent journalist in Angola. The journalist, Teixeira Cândido, was hacked through his iPhone using spyware developed by Intellexa, a controversial spyware maker.
According to the report published by Amnesty International, Cândido was sent malicious links via WhatsApp in 2024, which eventually led to his iPhone being compromised by Intellexa’s spyware, known as Predator. This incident highlights the growing trend of government customers using commercial surveillance tools to target journalists, politicians, and other individuals in civil society.
Intellexa has come under scrutiny in recent years for its questionable practices, including operating from multiple jurisdictions to evade export laws and maintaining a complex network of corporate entities to conceal its activities. Despite these controversies, the outgoing Biden administration sanctioned Intellexa in 2024, along with its founder Tal Dilian and business partner Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou.
The report by Amnesty International also revealed that Intellexa’s spyware, Predator, has been deployed in several countries, including Egypt, Greece, and Vietnam. In Vietnam, the government reportedly targeted U.S. officials using the spyware sent via malicious links.
Amnesty researchers were able to link the hacking attempts on Cândido to Intellexa by analyzing forensic traces on his phone. The spyware used by Intellexa was able to evade detection by impersonating legitimate iOS system processes. Despite Cândido managing to remove the spyware by rebooting his phone, Amnesty believes he may be just one of many targets in Angola.
The report also highlighted leaks of internal documents showing that Intellexa employees had remote access to customers’ systems, potentially giving the spyware maker insight into government surveillance activities. This, along with other confirmed abuses in various countries, underscores the ongoing challenges posed by spyware makers like Intellexa.
Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, head of the security lab at Amnesty International, expressed concern over the widespread abuse of spyware technologies and emphasized the need for greater transparency and accountability in the surveillance industry. The report serves as a stark reminder of the threats posed by invasive surveillance tools and the urgent need to address these issues to protect individuals’ privacy and civil liberties.
