The Central Office for Information Technology in the Security Sector (Zitis) is exploring options to purchase the controversial state Trojan Predator, whose capabilities are said to be similar to the infamous Pegasus spyware from the Israel-based NSO Group. The federal government is generally covered in this matter, but has now at least hinted: “In order to carry out its tasks with regard to the further development of cyber capabilities in the field of information technology surveillance”, Zitis has been in contact with representatives of Intellexa and the subsidiary Cytrox since 2021, drive out the Predators.
According to reports from SWR and Welt, the executive writes in response to a request from the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag on the possible use of Intellexa products “as part of a market inspection to obtain information about the portfolio” of the opaque corporate network or Cytrox at German security authorities. “This also includes dealing with the products and services offered by the company.”
Predator probing of the zitis
Zitis, based in Munich, is known as the hacker authority. It is intended to support other agencies, especially in the security sector, such as the police and secret services, in questions of digital forensics, telecommunications surveillance and cryptanalysis. One of their core tasks lies in the procurement and development of state trojans in order to be able to circumvent encryption and access IT systems as part of source TKÜ or clandestine online searches.
The government left open whether the Zitis Predator probe was successful and whether the spy software is now in the possession of German authorities. It is already known that the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) have procured Pegasus.
Former secret service coordinator as lobbyist and door opener
According to research by SWR and “Welt”, the former secret service coordinator Bernd Schmidbauer apparently worked as a lobbyist and door opener for Intellexa at federal authorities. The former CDU politician recently made the headlines after the Wirecard bankruptcy. According to the reports, in February 2022 there was contact between Schmidbauer and Zitis President Wilfried Karl about the Intellexa, which comes from the BND. In May there are said to have been talks with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Schmidbauer is said to have contacted the ex-president of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schönbohm, in November 2021, by phone and email, in order to arrange a meeting with the Predator manufacturer. This did not happen after an exchange with the responsible department. The acquisition of state Trojans for offensive purposes is officially not part of the BSI’s range of tasks. A government spokesman “in principle” did not want to comment on such appointments.
Intellexa at the center of the Greek spy scandal
Intellexa has been at the center of the Greek spy scandal for many months. The real surveillance scandal began in the summer when opposition party leader Nikos Androulakis spotted the Predator on his smartphone. In August, the government admitted that classic telecommunications surveillance had been carried out on him. However, it was a legal wiretapping operation, not the use of spyware, which would have been illegal in Greece.
Since then, a growing group of politicians and journalists found out that their mobile phones appeared to have Predator installed. In late autumn, for example, investigative reporter Tasos Telloglou made his personal experiences with “dystopian” surveillance by spy software and on-site surveillance public. The chief of staff, Grigoris Dimitriadis, and the Greek secret service chief have since resigned from their posts.
Founder of Intellexa
Local parliamentarians and inspectors, as well as the European Pegasus investigative committee, are trying to shed light on the matter. Prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos of the Greek Supreme Court recently prohibited the national data protection authority ADAE from conducting further investigations in relevant cases.
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Tal Dilian is considered the strong man behind and the founder of Intellexa. The ex-officer previously held influential posts in the Israeli security, military and intelligence apparatus. The legal headquarters of his current company conglomerate is apparently in Ireland under the name Thalestris. There are said to be daughters in Greece, Switzerland, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, among others. According to its annual financial statements for 2020, the group recently generated sales of 20.8 million euros, of which 4.3 million euros were in Europe.
(bme)
