WASHINGTON D.C.: This week, the U.S. government announced “first-of-its-kind” sanctions against Greece-based spyware vendor Intellexa and its leadership for being involved in targeting U.S. government officials.

The Treasury Department sanctioned two individuals and five entities associated with the Intellexa Consortium for their role in “developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology,” used against journalists, dissidents, policy experts, and U.S. officials.

Those hit by the sanctions will have their U.S. assets frozen, and Americans will be banned from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with them also risk of being hit with sanctions.

Cyber intelligence company Intellexa has recently been in the headlines after their software platform, known as Predator, which enables mobile phone and internet surveillance, was allegedly discovered on the devices of victims in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the U.S.

In addition to acting as an individual company, Intellexa owns, invests in, and partners with other spyware firms under a consortium model.

Intellexa’s founder, Tal Dillian, a former Israeli government intelligence officer, launched the company in Israel but later moved abroad, establishing operations in Cyprus and Greece, as export control laws on surveillance technologies are less developed in those countries.

The company was recently alleged to have worked with the Egyptian and Vietnamese governments.

After years of calls for action by civil society groups across many presidential administrations, Biden’s National Security Council implemented an Executive Order in 2023 to tackle the issue of regulating commercial hacking tools.

In a statement, Brian Nelson, Under-Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said, “The U.S. remains focused on establishing clear guardrails for the responsible development and use of these technologies while also ensuring the protection of human rights and civil liberties of individuals around the world.”