US Brings New Sanctions Against Intellexa Spyware Network

The Treasury Department has brought new sanctions against members of the Intellexa Consortium, a software developer said to be responsible for developing commercial spyware code.
Intellexa is a network of business entities that have developed computer surveillance software products. The U.S. government has raised concerns about its surveillance technology being sold to hostile foreign actors and has used trade blacklists and sanctions in recent years to disrupt the Intellexa network.
The new sanctions targeted Felix Bitzios, who the Treasury Department stated had been the beneficial owner of one of the companies in the Intellexa network that had been targeted for sanctions in March, known as Intellexa S.A.
According to the Treasury Department, the Greece-based Intellexa S.A. exported the Intellexa network’s surveillance tools to “authoritarian regimes.”
The Treasury Department described Andrea Nicola Constantino Hermes Gambazzi, another of the individuals targeted in the Sept. 16 sanctions announcement, as the beneficial owner of two additional Intellexa-linked companies, Intellexa Ltd. and Thalestris Ltd.
Intellexa Ltd. is an Ireland-based firm that allegedly resold Intellexa products and held other assets for the Intellexa network. Thalestris Ltd. is another Ireland-based firm that allegedly held the license for Intellexa network’s “Predator” spyware product and served as another financial holding company for the network.
Merom Harpaz, a third individual listed in the Sept. 16 sanctions announcement, is described as a top executive of the Intellexa network and a manager of Intellexa S.A.
The Treasury Department listed a fourth sanctioned individual, Panagiota Karaoli, as a director for multiple Intellexa-linked firms.
The fifth individual listed is Artemis Artemiou, who is the general manager and member of the board of Cytrox Holdings Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag (Cytrox Holdings), another Intellexa-linked firm previously identified and listed for sanctions, according to the Treasury Department.
Along with the five individuals, the department sanctions also targeted Aliada Group Inc., another business entity allegedly involved in the network. The firm, based in the British Virgin Islands, allegedly handled tens of millions of dollars of transactions for the Intellexa network.
The department stated that the individuals and firms targeted in its most recent sanctions will be barred from accessing any property or interests that they may hold in the United States or in the name of a U.S. person. Department officials stated that those with access to the blocked assets must report them to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“The United States will not tolerate the reckless propagation of disruptive technologies that threatens our national security and undermines the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens,” Bradley T. Smith, acting undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said on Sept. 16.
The Treasury Department stated that Intellexa’s spyware clients have also targeted U.S. government officials, journalists, and policy analysts.
The department identified Dilian, a former Israeli military officer, as the Intellexa network’s founder and the architect behind its surveillance software and Hamou as “a corporate off-shoring specialist who has provided managerial services to the Intellexa Consortium.”
Smith said the Treasury Department will continue to target “those that seek to enable the proliferation of exploitative technologies.”