137: Predator

143 snips

Sep 5, 2023

Guest

John Scott-Railton

Crofton Black, an investigative journalist at Lighthouse Reports, discusses the extensive spyware investigation focusing on the new mercenary tool, Predator. Joined by Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton from Citizen Lab, they delve into how Predator infects mobile phones to collect sensitive data and its alarming sale to global intelligence agencies. The conversation highlights ethical implications, the urgent need for regulatory oversight, and the chilling reality of technology being weaponized against civil liberties.

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ANECDOTE

The Arms Dealer

Sam Cummings became the world's biggest private arms dealer.
He sold weapons to anyone who could pay, even during the Cold War.

ANECDOTE

WeSpeer Demo

Tal Dillian, an Israeli entrepreneur, developed WeSpeer, a mobile surveillance tech.
He demonstrated its ability to spy on phones in a Forbes video, leading to his arrest in Cyprus.

INSIGHT

Why Greece?

Tal Dillian moved his spyware operation to Greece after facing legal issues in Cyprus.
This move might be due to Greece's potentially more permissive regulatory environment and opportunities to work with forbidden customers.

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A new type of mercenary spyware came on the radar called Predator. It’ll infect a mobile phone, and then suck up all the data from it. Contacts, text messages, location, and more. This malware is being sold to intelligence agencies around the world.

In this episode we hear from Crofton Black at Lighthouse Reports who spent 6 months with a team of journalists researching this story which was published here: https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/flight-of-the-predator/.

We also hear from Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton from Citizen Lab.

If you want to hear about other mercenary spyware, check out episodes 99 and 100, about NSO group and Pegasus. To hear another episode about Greece check out episode 64 called Athens Shadow Games.

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