Convicted Spyware Maker Says He Only Sells to Governments — Which Is Exactly the Problem

Tal Dilian, the founder of surveillance technology firm Intellexa, was sentenced to eight years in prison last month for his role in Greece’s “Predatorgate” wiretapping scandal. Now, in a move that has reignited the political storm, he’s publicly claiming that his company sells its Predator spyware exclusively to governments — an admission that opposition leaders say proves the Greek state orchestrated a massive domestic espionage campaign.

The Predatorgate Scandal

The scandal surfaced in March 2022 when journalist Thanasis Koukakis discovered that his phone had been infected with Intellexa’s Predator spyware and that he had been wiretapped by the Greek National Intelligence Service. Four months later, Nikos Androulakis, leader of the opposition party PASOK-KINAL, discovered his phone had also been targeted while serving as a Member of the European Parliament.

The Greek court convicted four people: Dilian (a former commander of an elite Israeli intelligence unit), his ex-wife and business partner Sara Hamou, Intellexa executive Felix Bitzios, and Yiannis Lavranos, who owned the Greek security firm that purchased the Predator spyware. All received eight-year sentences, suspended pending appeals.

The “Only Governments” Defense That Backfired

Here’s where it gets interesting. Dilian’s defense — that Intellexa sells exclusively to governments — was presumably meant to distance himself from criminal liability. But it had the opposite effect. If only governments can buy Predator, and Predator was used to spy on Greek journalists and politicians, then it was the Greek government doing the spying.

Opposition leaders have seized on this admission as proof that the surveillance wasn’t the work of rogue actors but an official state operation. The Greek government has consistently denied direct involvement, but Dilian’s statement makes that denial increasingly difficult to maintain.

The Predator Spyware

Predator is a “zero-click” spyware that can gain complete access to a target’s mobile device — microphone, camera, contacts, messages, location data, and files — without the user clicking anything or knowing they’ve been compromised. It’s been compared to NSO Group’s Pegasus and has been documented in surveillance operations across multiple countries.

In 2024, the U.S. government sanctioned Intellexa, Dilian, and Hamou for their role in developing spyware used to target American government officials and journalists.

The Bottom Line

The Intellexa case is a perfect illustration of the surveillance technology paradox: the companies that build these tools claim they’re for “lawful interception” by governments, but when those governments use them to spy on their own citizens, journalists, and political opponents, everyone acts surprised. Dilian’s admission that he only sells to governments isn’t the defense he thinks it is — it’s an indictment of the entire state surveillance apparatus.