Jack Recider

And I just want to stop and show respect for this skill for a moment. It's one thing to be able to analyze binary files for an iPhone, but it's a whole other skill set to try to determine the geopolitical ramifications for such an exploit being sold on the mercenary marketplace. You know? In fact, it wasn't just Citizen Lab who was investigating this.

They shared their findings with the security team at Meta, Facebook, who was also investigating. And the combined forces of Citizen Lab and Meta meant that these reports they published were very impressive. Okay, so let's try to connect some of the dots ourselves of what happened here.

They shared their findings with the security team at Meta, Facebook, who was also investigating. And the combined forces of Citizen Lab and Meta meant that these reports they published were very impressive. Okay, so let's try to connect some of the dots ourselves of what happened here.

An Egyptian politician who was living in exile and an Egyptian journalist were both found to have Predator on their phones. If two people from Egypt are infected with this... It may mean the Egyptian government is using this technology to spy on their civil society, which is spooky.

An Egyptian politician who was living in exile and an Egyptian journalist were both found to have Predator on their phones. If two people from Egypt are infected with this... It may mean the Egyptian government is using this technology to spy on their civil society, which is spooky.

You'd think they'd be using this to stop terrorists or catch criminals, but they're using it to see what stories a journalist is working on next? This is awful. But when we back up a second and say, okay, so who makes Predator? This company called Cytrox shows up. And we see that Cytrox was bought by Tal Dillion. But we also read about this other company called Nexa.

You'd think they'd be using this to stop terrorists or catch criminals, but they're using it to see what stories a journalist is working on next? This is awful. But when we back up a second and say, okay, so who makes Predator? This company called Cytrox shows up. And we see that Cytrox was bought by Tal Dillion. But we also read about this other company called Nexa.

Nexa was formerly known as Amasis. Amasis was indicted for illegally selling weapons to Libya. In fact, Amasis was charged with crimes against humanity for helping Libya conduct torture. But guess what? While the executives of that company were facing these indictments, Tal started making deals with them.

Nexa was formerly known as Amasis. Amasis was indicted for illegally selling weapons to Libya. In fact, Amasis was charged with crimes against humanity for helping Libya conduct torture. But guess what? While the executives of that company were facing these indictments, Tal started making deals with them.

I don't know exactly what, but at the very least, he was using their technology somehow, either through a partnership or a deal he made with them. And with that technology, he combined the names together, Citrox and Nexa, to form a new company called Intellexa. Combining this new technology with that spy van, Wii Spear stuff he already had,

I don't know exactly what, but at the very least, he was using their technology somehow, either through a partnership or a deal he made with them. And with that technology, he combined the names together, Citrox and Nexa, to form a new company called Intellexa. Combining this new technology with that spy van, Wii Spear stuff he already had,

It meant that Intellexa had quite the arsenal of ways to gather data off a phone and track its location. And he doesn't seem to be bothered by making deals with a company that's been accused of conducting crimes against humanity. The report that Meta came up with showed that Predator may have been sold to the following governments.

It meant that Intellexa had quite the arsenal of ways to gather data off a phone and track its location. And he doesn't seem to be bothered by making deals with a company that's been accused of conducting crimes against humanity. The report that Meta came up with showed that Predator may have been sold to the following governments.

Egypt, Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Vietnam, Philippines, Germany, and Greece. Of course, Greece, right? I mean, Tal was reestablishing his whole business in Greece at the same time. If he had some kind of partnership with high-ups in the Greek government... then that might be a good reason to move there.

Egypt, Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Vietnam, Philippines, Germany, and Greece. Of course, Greece, right? I mean, Tal was reestablishing his whole business in Greece at the same time. If he had some kind of partnership with high-ups in the Greek government... then that might be a good reason to move there.

I mean, if he had some connections, then that might help him be able to conduct business without having that long arm of the law messing things up. Well, some Greek journalists saw this report by Meta and Citizen Lab, and they're like, what, spyware may have been sold to the Greek government? We better write a story on this.

I mean, if he had some connections, then that might help him be able to conduct business without having that long arm of the law messing things up. Well, some Greek journalists saw this report by Meta and Citizen Lab, and they're like, what, spyware may have been sold to the Greek government? We better write a story on this.

A news outlet called Inside Story wrote a piece basically saying, look out, Predator may be in the wild here in Greece.

A news outlet called Inside Story wrote a piece basically saying, look out, Predator may be in the wild here in Greece.

The Greek paper Inside Story exposed it. And once news broke out, it erupted in an explosion of articles. Then the Committee to Protect Journalists chimed in. Amnesty International echoed the story. The Council of Europe spoke up. It was news that could not be silenced.