Rogue software

More than 15 months after the Data Protection Authority started an investigation on the bugged cellphones of public officials and other individuals, it is still not yet clear who sent some of the spyware-infected messages.

Eleven people whose phones were infected with illegal spyware Predator received a message from the same phone number, according to a report by Mega channel on Wednesday, in new revelations pertaining to the ongoing judicial investigation into Greece's spyware scandal.

Greek Journalist Thanasis Koukakis attends a European Parliament Inquiry hearing in Brussels amid an investigation into the use of the Pegasus spyware in Greece, 8 September 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET

Dutch MEP and president of the spyware investigation committee Sophie in 't Veld presents draft findings of the inquiry in Brussels, November 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET

Officers from the police's cybercrime division have raided the home of a female suspect connected to the Predator spyware scandal.

The suspect, who was not named, was reportedly an employee and shareholder of Intellexa, the Athens-based company that sells the tracking software.

Greek journalists and officials testified on Thursday at the first hearing of a European Parliamentary inquiry on the use of Predator surveillance spyware in Greece.

Facebook's WhatsApp urged users to upgrade to the latest version of its popular messaging app after reporting that users might be vulnerable to having malicious spyware installed on phones without their knowledge.

The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday ordered the Greek state to pay 50,000 euros in damages and expenses to the family of Costas Tsalikidis, a mobile telephone company worker who was found hanged in his home in March 2005, shortly before a major wiretapping scandal involving his firm became public.

The Bulgarian general directorate "Fight with organized crime" can now extract information from some of the most popular mobile applications like Viber, Facebook messenger, Whatsup, Skype and others.